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SHE EMPTIED THE BASKET IN HIS LAP 







THE HEROINE OF ROSELAND 


OS STOR^r FOR w GIFJLS 


^EVELYN 

RAYMOND 

n c/tuihor of 
~A Quaker Maiden” 
“The Whirligig '.'etc 


Illustrated by 

NINA EJU1ENDER 


Xuhe Penn Publishing Company 

PHILADELPHIA MCMVII 


<\A ^ 


iUBKARYof CONGRESS? 
I Two Copies Received • 

! jut 2 j 90 r 

| /7Cepyneht Entry 

/Class' (X xxc., No. 

P /f27JijL 

COPY B. 


COPYRIGHT 1907 BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY’ 


The Heroine of Roseland 




Contents 


chaptbr PAGE 

I A Supper at Roseland 7 

II The Greenhouse Menagerie ... 21 

III Gail Goes into Business 39 

IV Introducing Balaam 52 

V Great Uncle Joram 66 

VI Under April Skies 84 

VII The Disturbance in the Greenhouse 105 

VIII Disappointments 122 

IX A Star Performance 137 

X At the Close of the Day .... 152 

XI Darkened Days 171 

XII Revelations 189 

XIII Aunt Sarah at the Mill .... 203 

XIV Lesson Learning 220 

XV Home-Coming — Home-Leaving . . 236 

XVI The Science of Doing Without . . 251 

XVII Surprising Statements 268 

XVIII Separation 285 

XIX The Unexpected 305 

XX The Two Jeromes 324 

XXI Conclusion 341 


3 




















































Illustrations 


t 

PAGE 

She Emptied the Basket in His Lap .... Frontispiece 

She Clasped Her Arms Around His Neck 57 

“ Isn’t That a Lovely Bunch of Bloodroot” ... 85 

The Circus 145 

In Another Moment She Was In Her Arms .... 208 


She Was Packing the Statuettes 281 

“ Oh, How Beautiful ! ” She Exclaimed 328 


The Heroine of Roseland 


t 



The Heroine of Roseland 


CHAPTER I 

A SUPPER AT ROSELAND 

“ Aren’t they very late, mother ?” asked 
Jerome, sauntering into the great, low-ceiled 
room which served as both kitchen and din- 
ing-room and where the supper-table had long 
been spread. 

“ Yes. School’s been out for hours and the 
children are playing on the common. I’m 
afraid your father’s gone fishing — his tackle’s 
missing — and Gail posy hunting. If so, 
they’ve forgotten everything else. I’ll step 
out and look up street.” 

There was more impatience in Mrs. Gra- 
ham’s expression than in her words, and, to 
appease her rising anger, the lad remarked : 

“ They can’t help it, mother. The call of 
the woods is in their blood and it’s April ; 
lovely even here, indoors.” 

With a sigh, half-weakness, half-longing, he 
7 


8 


The Heroine of Roseland 


dropped into his rocker by the west window, 
leaned his head back and closed his eyes. 
The crimson light of the setting sun flooded 
the place and brought out all its details of 
homely comfort with the dainty neatness 
which pervaded them. Also, the rosy light 
emphasized the boy’s extreme beauty and 
delicacy ; a delicacy that explained why, in 
every room he frequented, there should 
always be waiting an easy resting place for 
Jerry. 

“ For Jerry ” was the key-note of the house- 
hold, and the present vexation of its orderly 
mistress was more on his account than her 
own. He had scarcely tasted his dinner and 
he needed the refreshment of his supper, 
always his best relished meal. Frugality was 
the rule at Roseland ; but on that spring day 
Jerome had seemed so languid that the watch- 
ful mother had prepared an unusual feast, hop- 
ing to tempt his appetite. There were deli- 
cately browned potatoes, hot gingerbread and 
coffee, with a rare dessert of honey. The 
potatoes were fast drying up in the oven where 
they had been set to keep warm and the coffee 
growing stale, and it did seem such a pity ! 


9 


A Supper at Roseland 

Indeed, Mrs. Graham was just on the point of 
returning to the kitchen and serving the meal 
to such as were on hand when, from the gate- 
less gateway, she saw the delinquents coming 
down the street. 

The Dominie — so called by the mill people 
whose children he taught — was so short and 
Gail so tall that she could easily rest her arm 
upon his shoulder and, during this past year, 
they had fallen into the habit of thus walking 
together. He liked her leaning upon him 
with its sense of giving support, and her 
light weight served to express without words 
her love and confidence. 

Thus they came onward now, he with his 
creel and rod slung over his free shoulder and 
she with her basket of flowers ; and before they 
were within speaking distance the mother 
could hear Gail’s laughter and see her hus- 
band’s gravely answering smile, and a queer, 
unpleasant feeling rose within her own breast 
that these two lived in a world of their own 
from which she was shut out. Naturally, this 
feeling did not improve her already overtaxed 
patience and she greeted them with : 

“ Well, I do think you might remember 


io The Heroine of Roseland 

your home duties once in a while ! Supper’s 
been waiting an hour and, of course, it’s 
spoiled.” 

“ I’m sorry, Mary. We ” began Mr. 

Graham. 

But Gail gave him no chance for further 
excuse ; for, clasping the house-mistress about 
the waist, she whirled that vainly protesting 
lady up the path to the open door, exclaiming : 

“ Sorry, too, mother dear ! and it shan’t hap- 
pen again if But what is this I smell? 

Coffee? Fried ’tatoes? And is it — can it be 
— honey ? Real bees’ honey, not store made ? 
Mother, tell me quick ! Is there a minister 
or a ‘ trustee’ hid in your parlor ? ” 

Mrs. Graham laughed and forgot her vexa- 
tion while Gail sped to her beloved twin and 
emptied her basket in his lap. 

“ See, Jerry, see ! Darling little ‘ Patties,’ 
and spring beauties, dog tooth violets and 
bloodroots, and every blessed little posy gone 
to sleep for the night. Did you dream so 
many flowers had come already and it only 
the beginning of April? Just look at this 
mass of arbutus roots. I brought that to plant 
in the garden. Don’t you hope it will live? 


A Supper at Roseland 11 

And do you know, sweetheart, I’ve just dis- 
covered that all the earliest flowers are pale 
and delicate in color. White, faint pinks and 
lavenders and blues, with the dainty yellow 
tips of the Dutchman’s breeches — for all the 
world like that honey yon. Oh ! I am so 
happy ! Yet how happened ” 

Upon this rhapsody broke the mother’s 
prosaic request : 

“ Gail, run to the baker’s for a loaf of bread. 
Make haste. I’ll dish up at once and you 
should be back by the time we’re ready.” 

The girl scooped her blossoms back into the 
basket, to be cared for at a later time, while 
the schoolmaster returned from placing his fish 
in the spring behind the house, remarking : 

“ They’re fine little fellows and should give 
you a nice breakfast, my lad. And, Mary, just 
leave them to me and I’ll dress them all ready 
for the pan.” 

“ All right, father. My share will be the 
cooking,” answered Mrs. Graham, cheerfully 9 
as with her swift and never wasted movements, 
she touched a bell to summon her other chil- 
dren, placed the food upon the table, set the 
chairs in order beside it and took her own 


12 


The Heroine of Roseland 


place at its head. Then followed the moment 
of silent grace which brought its own sweet 
peace upon them ; and this over all tongues 
began to chatter of the day’s events and not 
least of these was the Dominie’s bit of news : 

“ 1 Big House ’ is empty now. The family 
has gone abroad, suddenly, and for an indefi- 
nite stay.” 

“ Oh ! dear ! There goes my market for 
eggs and chickens, then, and I was counting 
upon ” 

“ Mother, where’s the bread ? ” interrupted 
small Tom, realizing the need of an article he 
usually disdained. 

“ Yes, the bread,” added Jerry, toying with 
his knife and fork, and seemingly unable to 
begin his supper. “ I’m like Tom, didn’t 
know I cared for bread till ” 

“ Brother, don’t fidget with your things. 

It isn’t nice ” began Luella ; and her father 

forestalled a dispute by saying in his school- 
room voice : 

“ Bread is the staff of life. It is well we 
should occasionally be deprived of it ” 

“ Why doesn’t Gail come ? ” demanded 
Luella, rudely breaking in upon the Dominie’s 


A Supper at Roseland 13 

“ lecture ” ; “ she’s no right to stay so and 
keep us all waiting.” 

Said Jerry laughing : . 

“ At last I've found a name for this family. 
The 1 Interrupters.' Does anybody ever fin- 
ish a sentence once begun ? ” 

“ Mother, excuse me?” asked Tom, yet 
without waiting response, slipped from his 
chair and disappeared in the pantry, whence 
he soon returned with a tin pail of crackers. 

“ Hurra, small boy ! Wise child. If the 
poor haven't bread let them eat cake — or its 
equivalent. Pass them along, Thomas !” cried 
Jerry. 

Even the schoolmaster laughed and helped 
himself to a biscuit ; but Luella, who liked 
things decent and in order, complained : 

“ Mother, look ! Tom’s put the bucket right 
on the tablecloth ! ” 

“ Humph ! If you don’t like it get a 
plate ! ” retorted the boy, now busily dispatch- 
ing his food. 

“ Children ! ” reproved Mrs. Graham, im- 
patiently rising to remove the objectionable 
“ bucket.” 

“ Why didn’t you go yourself, Lu? as 


14 The Heroine of Roseland 

mother would have made Gail do, ” inquired 
Jerome with elder-brotherly frankness. 

Whereat the little maid tossed her pretty 
head and, with an inimitable manner, re- 
plied : 

“ Oh! I am never expected to do house- 
work ! ” 

Both lads laughed, but the father looked 
grave, and a flush of annoyance tinged the 
mother’s cheek. The palatable supper she 
had been at such pains to provide seemed 
only to have brought discord with it, and all 
because of a missing loaf of bread ! She 
wished she had gone for it herself, then she 
would have been better served. But Luella 
and her airs were now promptly forgotten at 
sound of some commotion outside. 

Having consumed a half-hour upon a five 
minutes’ errand, Gail had returned, talking 
excitedly, holding in leash a great St. Ber- 
nard dog, and in her arms the tiniest of ter- 
riers. Behind her lagged the baker’s boy, 
shamefaced, pulling his cap and vainly trying 
to interject a word between the girl’s joyous 
exclamations. 

“ Oh ! aren’t they just dear, dear, dear? 


A Supper at Roseland 15 

They’re for you, Jerry, darling, and I’ve 

named them already ” 

“ You see, ma’am ” began the boy, but 

Gail went on, unheeding : 

“ Remember the sandwich-men down town ? 
The giant, 4 1 take Juniper Tar,’ and the dwarf, 
‘ I don’t ’ ? Aren’t the names fit? And I was 
only just in time to save their lovely lives. 
The folks leaving ‘ Big House ’ gave them to 
Peter and the baker wouldn’t let him keep 
them, so Peter was going to sell them if he 
could, because if he couldn’t the dog-catcher 
would have called for them to-night, and you 
know what that means. So I got first chance, 
and Oh, brother ! aren’t you glad? You’ve 
been so longing for dog models, and not a 
whole dog in the single 1 menagerie ’ — I mean 
— you know what I mean, and only two dol- 
lars for the pair ! Think of that ! ” 

The family had remained speechless during 
this outburst, though as the St. Bernard now 
settled softly down upon the floor and waved 
his beautiful brush to and fro, both Jerry and 
Tom knelt beside him and began to stroke 
his tawny coat. The schoolmaster sat aghast, 
while Luella promptly tucked her feet up un- 


i6 The Heroine of Roseland 


der her skirts, and it was Mrs. Graham who 
first found voice, exclaiming : 

“ Abigail Graham, you must have lost your 
senses ! I will not have Roseland turned 
into an asylum for all the disreputable beasts 
set loose in Millville. Take those dogs di- 
rectly back where you got them.” 

“ But — mother! I can’t. I’ve bought 
them.” 

“ With what, pray ? ” 

“ With Aunt George’s last Christmas 
money.” 

“ Oh, Gail Graham ! You know yourself 
that went long ago to pay for Jerry’s modeling 
tools,” corrected Luella, while Tom drew near 
the now dismayed elder sister to inspect the 
terrier she held. 

“ Trust Lu to remember inconvenient 
things,” commented Jerome, stretching him- 
self out at length and laying his always tired 
head upon the St. Bernard’s soft side. But 
he smiled as he saw the house-mistress, in her 
annoyance, absently take the parcel from 
Peter’s hand and carefully place its paper 
wrapping on the bread plate, while she indig- 
nantly tossed the loaf into the coal scuttle. 


A Supper at Roseland 17 

Whereupon Tom laughed aloud and turned 
a hilarious somersault, landing with his feet 
in Luella’s lap. This created another diver- 
sion, under cover of which the baker’s boy 
disappeared, and Gail hurried to the Domi- 
nie’s side to whisper appealingly in his 
ear. 

Gradually his stern glance softened till it 
rested with infinite pity and tenderness upon 
tall Jerome, so wan and fragile, and with that 
short, labored breathing which told its own 
pathetic tale. Already the lad’s deft, thin 
hands were feeling the “ points ” of his new 
“ model ” and his murmured : 

“ He’s magnificent — magnificent ! He shall 
be ‘ done ’ in something better than clay ! ” 
warned the indulgent father that the matter 
had gone too far for interference. The dogs 
had come to stay ! 

Yet he still tried to be stern with Gail, 
warning her against any further impulses of 
this nature, making her promise that these 
new members of their household should never 
be allowed to annoy its busy mistress, and 
finally bestowing upon the now repentant 
girl the two dollars which were but a nominal 


18 The Heroine of Roseland 


price for the dogs, yet made a noticeable 
“ hole ” in the week’s scanty income. 

Gail hugged him ecstatically, when he had 
finished, crying : 

“ Oh ! thank you, father ! It won’t be for- 
ever till Christmas, and another Aunt George 
present and I’ll not forget ’twill be yours and 
not mine. Nor shall either of these precious 
doggies bark a single bark ! I’ll look out for 
that ! ” 

Jerry’s brief excitement had left him more 
than normally pale, but he now breathed 
quite easily as he rose and went to the 
schoolmaster’s side, adding to his twin’s his 
own : 

“ Thank you, father, too. More than I can 
say. I’ll repay you when I sell my first suc- 
cessful model. I’ll be successful, surely, some 
day. But not such names, sister ! We can’t 
have them.” 

“ Ah ! yes, Jerry, boy ! They are so fit ! 
Only, for every day, we can say just ‘ Juni’ 
and * Ido.’ Come on, all of you ! Let’s in- 
troduce them to the rest of the ‘ menagerie ’ 
and settle them for the night. Then, mother 
dear, I’ll come in and wash the dishes.” 


19 


A Supper at Roseland 

With that the four children disappeared in 
the direction of the old conservatory which 
sheltered their “ menagerie,” while the house- 
mistress set about the clearing of the table with 
more than even her accustomed energy. 

“ Mary, wife, I hadn’t the heart to refuse, 
not after I saw poor Jerry’s delight,” depre- 
cated the Dominie when they were left 
alone. 

“ Of course, you hadn’t ! Did you ever re- 
fuse anybody anything? Except me — ask- 
ing you to look out for your money ! ” 

“ But, my dear, the price was absurdly 
small. If I’m any judge of animals that 
St. Bernard is worth at least several hundred 
dollars.” 

“ Unfortunately, there are no fools in Mill- 
ville to buy him. For my part I wish there 
wasn’t an animal on the face of this earth ! ” 

“ Oh ! my dear ! Don’t say that ! Be- 
cause — because ” 

'‘Because what?” demanded the sorely- 
tried housewife, foreseeing some fresh trial, 
and facing about so suddenly that she nearly 
spilled the milk from the pitcher she held. 
Nearly, but not quite. Accidents of that sort 


20 The Heroine of Roseland 

were wholly unnecessary, as she often re- 
minded Gail, the careless. “ What more is 
there to come ? ” 

“ Nothing, only — I’ve bought a donkey.” 


CHAPTER II 


THE GREENHOUSE MENAGERIE 

As the wild Washoe River tumbled down 
from the hills it seemed to cut the town in 
two. But, of course, the river had been there 
first and to accommodate its own increasing 
needs, Millville had stretched itself along 
either bank in two long streets. Never a town 
more rightly named. Factory Street, on the 
lower bank, began with the old paper mill ; 
and this was followed by mill after mill, each 
with its appertaining cottages for its em- 
ployees. 

On the High Street were the homes of the 
mills’ officials, the three churches, the stores 
and post-office, and a dilapidated inn. There, 
too, about midway stood the schoolhouse, set 
so far back from the main street that a grassy 
common could spread before it. Here were 
trees and the town pump, with a few benches 
scattered about, on which the children rested 
from their games and the old men sat to 
gossip. 


21 


22 


The Heroine of Roseland 


The houses of the mill owners and their man- 
agers were more pretentious than the operatives’ 
cottages across the stream, yet only slightly 
so ; for there was nobody in the busy, common- 
place town who was not in some way con- 
nected with the factories. In the beginning 
of things, indeed, a few rich people had recog- 
nized the charms of the Washoe Valley and 
had built themselves mansions on the hills 
about it. But the noise of machinery and the 
smoke of tall chimneys had interfered with 
their enjoyment of the “ view,” and the isola- 
tion of the place made them lonely for “ So- 
ciety.” The sight of incessant toil bored them 
till these incessantly idle people gradually 
drifted away and left the happy, work-a-day 
mill folk in sole possession of the town. 

So many mill folk there were, indeed, that 
when the school was started there was no 
cottage empty in which to house its master ; 
so that the trustees finally settled him at de- 
serted Roseland, a few rooms of which were 
still habitable. The place was at the extreme 
end of the High Street and in its quietude 
suited him as exactly as it suited his thrifty, 
tidy wife not at all. The wide, weed-grown 


The Greenhouse Menagerie 23 

grounds were beautiful in his sight and that 
of the small twins who came with him, and 
as time passed, he and they, would have 
found some use for each of the many musty 
rooms of the big house. But this Mrs. Gra- 
ham steadily opposed, keeping her house- 
hold settled in the few comfortable apart- 
ments that had constituted the servants' quar- 
ters during the owner's stay. 

“ No, Philibert, we won't open the rest of 
the place, save for air and health’s sake, now 
and then. The kitchen will be our living 
room, the little room beyond will answer for 
all the parlor we can afford, and three sleep- 
ing rooms are all sufficient. They will be as 
much as I can keep clean ; and I shall expect 
you to cut the grass on this side the house. I 
couldn't stand an untidy door-yard. I may 
try a bit of poultry raising in that tumble- 
down hennery, if you'll patch it up with a 
few sticks, and we might earn a little that 
way.” 

“ That conservatory will do to raise flowers 
in,” he had remarked, as they thus made their 
first round of the place ; “ all it needs is a 
new heating arrangement and some fresh 


24 


The Heroine of Roseland 


glass and a better supply of water. We might 
make more money from flowers than from 
poultry.” 

“ Nonsense ! We’ve no cash for repairs, nor 
would factory folks have any to spend on 
greenhouse stuff*. The place will make a good 
playhouse for the twins, but that’s all it’s 
worth to us. I would have liked one of those 
neat little cottages better than this old man- 
sion, but we must make the best of it. Beg- 
gars can’t be choosers, and a school-teacher is 
next to the same thing. He has to take what 
his trustees give him and be thankful.” 

The Dominie sighed and submitted. He 
had an almost passionate love for flowers, and 
it seemed a bitter irony to possess a roomy 
greenhouse which he could not use. 

So it was that the old conservatory came 
into the possession of the Graham twins ; and, 
later on, of Luella and Tom ; till now it was 
so large a feature of their daily lives that 
most of their waking hours were spent there. 
Also, it was no longer a conservatory, but an 
“ Amphitheatre,” a “ Hippodrome,” a “ Cir- 
cus,” or more commonly, a “Menagerie” — 
abbreviated into the “ Menag.” 


The Greenhouse Menagerie 25 

That night when two dogs were added to 
the collection of animals which now inhab- 
ited the glass house, Gail looked about her 
with great satisfaction, remarking : 

“Just to think that this fine collection 
began with one old cat and a broken-winged 
pigeon ! I was so little then that I can hardly 
remember, yet so father says. And now — 
let’s count : Five white mice, a parrot, two 

gray squirrels, a mud turtle, ten cats ” 

“ My rabbits what Jimmy Barlow’s goin’ 
to fetch me, to-morrow,” added Tom. 

“ Never count your rabbits before they’re 
1 fetched,’ little brother. Jimmy Barlow is 
what the wood sawyer calls a 1 lettle nigh,’ 
and he’ll not swop rabbits for nothing,” ad- 
vised Jerry, from his hammock. “ But go 
on, Gail ; only hand me that scrap of paper, 
please, and I’ll make a new list. ‘ Juniper 
Tar ’ must go first, and look, look ! ” 

When he had been set free in the glass 
house the St. Bernard had settled himself on 
the earthen floor and spread out his beautiful 
tail as if to display all his best points at once. 
But the shivering little black-and-tan had re- 
sented the hard ground, and, discovering no 


26 The Heroine of Roseland 

better cushion, had cuddled himself upon his 
companion’s brush ; and when that great ani- 
mal presently rose the terrier still clung fast. 

Whether this was an old trick of their new 
pets, the children could not guess, but when 
the St. Bernard began to circle about, slowly 
and with great dignity, vainly trying to 
shake off his yelping burden, they shouted in 
glee, even prim little Luella exclaiming : 

“ That’s the very funniest thing ! See him 
go round and round, and the tiny one won’t 
let go ! Oh ! let’s make them do that for 
Saturday’s program. Let’s ! ” 

“ Surely ! I wonder how long they’ll keep 
it up ! ” cried Gail, seizing her whip from a 
ledge and cracking it in her most approved, 
ring-master style. But after a few more turns 
the terrier’s paws slipped from their hold and 
he dropped to the ground, whence Gail lifted 
him with an ecstatic squeeze. “ Oh ! you 
cunning little thing ! It’ll be worth what 
Tom calls five whole ‘ centses ’ to have you 
exhibit in our next circus, and I mean to ask 
it, too.” 

“ Abigail Graham ! The idea ! I’d like to 
know what girl or boy in Millville has five 


The Greenhouse Menagerie 27 

whole cents of real money to pay with. You 
must be crazy ! ” reproved Luella. 

“ No, small sister, just becoming sane. 
Just beginning to think. All my thinkings 
come after my doings, and — now we’ve got 
the dogs, how are we going to feed them ? ” 

“ Why — why — with stuff,” answered 
Tommy, decisively. 

“Certain. But what 4 stuff’? To-night 
they shall have what I didn’t eat — my own 
supper. But, to-morrow? I’m fearfully 
hungry, even now, and I couldn’t go without 
my breakfast.” 

Jerome roused himself from his reverie in 
the hammock to observe, consolingly : 

“ The ‘ Menag ’ always has gone on without 
costing anything. Why shouldn’t it now ? ” 

“ Why, because these dogs are ours only, and 
most of the other things have belonged to 
somebody else before we took them in to care 
for and train. But ‘Juniper Tar’ will eat 
more meat than a man. The baker said so. 
That’s why he wouldn’t let Peter keep him. 
Mother can’t afford to give even us children 
meat more than once a day, and as for a dog ! 
Fancy mother buying meat for him ! That’s 


28 The Heroine of Roseland 


the trouble with mother ! Her ‘ thinker ’ is 
always right on hand and what she does comes 
after. I see now. That’s why she was tried 
because I brought the dogs home. I’m afraid 
— I’m dreadfully afraid, Jerry sweetheart, that 
we mustn’t keep them after all.” 

“ Oh, Gail ! ” cried Jerome, rising on his 
elbow and casting a reproachful glance upon 
his sister, who could bear anything better than 
her twin’s displeasure and who hastened to 
say : 

“ Well, we’ve got them and since you like 
them I must find some way to keep them. I 
will find it, dear, don’t you fret.” 

“ Jimmy Barlow, he, Jimmy Barlow’ll fetch 
stuff for the rabbits with ’em. I told him he 
could pay lettuce an’ cabbages for his come-inn- 
ing. ’Less I wouldn’t ” 

“ Sweet innocent, lettuce and cabbages aren’t 
grown yet ! ” warned Gail, whose spirits seldom 
drooped for long and who was already plan- 
ning a way out of her dilemma. 

“ Wull — wull — he’ll bring something they 
like. Else they can’t live here, I told him. 
Anyhow, I fixed his ’xpress wagon for him 
and he owes me a nickel for that. I should 


The Greenhouse Menagerie 29 

think a nickel would keep two gray rabbits a 
great while, shouldn’t it, sister?” 

“ It might keep two gray ones, but how 
about the three white ones, honey ? I heard 
Jimmy’s mother tell him to ‘ make a clean 
sweep of it and get rid of the lot, now those 
silly Grahams would take them. Else she’d 
have to cook them in a pie.’ But I’m not 
wise about rabbits. They’re the only animals, 
I guess, we’ve never taken in. Ask father. 
He knows everything.” 

“ Old Mrs. Mosher pays seed for her blind 
canary when she comes to see it ring a bell for 
its supper. Says she knows ’twould have 
been ‘terrible smart’ if it hadn’t had the 
asthma. The asthma was what made her ask 
us to take it, ’cause she was afraid of catching 
it herself. So the canary costs nothing,” ob- 
served Luella, fixing her blue eyes upon the 
venerable pet now curled up on its swing. 

“ Kind creature, Mrs. Mosher ! Is willing 
to give us even the asthma along with the 
seed ! ” exclaimed Jerry, his momentary fear 
of losing his new models banished by his 
twin’s confident assurance that this should 
not be. 


30 The Heroine of Roseland 

“The cats catch their own mice,” added 
Tom. 

“ And would like to catch ours, only we keep 
the cage out of reach ! ” laughed Gail, at last 
setting about the business of finding beds for 
the new additions to their “stock,” and remark- 
ing : “I don’t believe there ever were four 
children had such a splendid place of their 
own as this dear old greenhouse ! I know 
the village children envy us, sometimes. 
Come here, Mr. Tar, if you please. Try this 
old bit of carpet under the shelf. Isn’t that 
fine? Now lie still, sir, and don’t you dare 
bark even once ! I’m going to get your 
supper.” 

With a ready understanding that he was 
among friends the dog obeyed and Gail tossed 
the terrier down beside him. Then she dis- 
appeared and Luella soon followed her. Tom, 
also ; leaving Jerome alone and drowsily con- 
sidering the problem of how to meet the ex- 
penses of their rapidly increasing menagerie. 

Mrs. Graham was quite willing the children 
should have as many pets as they wished, 
provided that these became no tax upon the 
scanty household purse, though she did rather 


The Greenhouse Menagerie 31 

resent the fact that everybody in Millville 
seemed to consider the old greenhouse a 
suitable “ dumping ground ” for any bird or 
beast which had outlived its owner’s interest. 

It had been Jerry’s suggestion, long before, 
that to offset expenses there should be a 
“ circus ” held every Saturday afternoon, with 
an admission fee in corn, table scraps, nuts, 
milk, bird seed, or any other eatable thing, 
as well as broken glass and old shingles 
wherewith to repair the roof that sheltered the 
troupe of performers. These fees he had rated 
at a fair value and were readily paid by the 
village children, according to the convenience 
of each. 

On their own part the young Grahams had 
trained their animals to do many cunning 
tricks, honestly striving to make their exhibi- 
tions worth seeing ; though it was mostly due 
to Gail’s efforts that they had succeeded ; and 
there was not a girl nor boy in town who did 
not think that old greenhouse at Roseland the 
most delightful spot on earth. 

There was the big, oblong room in front, 
with its shelves still in passable condition, 
with a circular, high-roofed palm house ad- 


3 2 


The Heroine of Roseland 


joining — a fine “ ring ” for the weekly per- 
formances. During the property’s tenantless 
years, much of the glass had been broken, but 
the schoolmaster had patched up the open 
spaces with bits of carpet, boards, or matting ; 
and a gale that had blown the tin roof from a 
mill shed had helped wonderfully. Given 
possession of the tin, a swarm of lads had 
helped Gail bring it home and, when it had 
been nailed in place, it made the snuggest 
corner possible for the high shelf whereon 
were stored Jerome’s completed models. The 
clay for these came from the river bank and 
Mr. Graham himself saw to it that a supply 
was always on hand, though he had often to 
caution the ambitious young sculptor against 
over-exertion. 

Although others, too, loved it, only Gail 
guessed how dear beyond telling was this 
quaint old “ studio ” to her frail twin, or knew 
of the ambitious dreams which thrilled him, 
lying in his hammock, slung in its coziest 
corner. He often spent his evenings there, 
alone as now, or with her on a bench beside 
him, ready to talk or keep silence, as best 
suited his mood. If they had moonlight or 


The Greenhouse Menagerie 33 

starlight to keep them company, it was well ; 
if there was only darkness, still they were 
content. For the love and sympathy of this 
brother and sister were quite beyond ordinary, 
scarcely needing speech to make their thoughts 
known to one another. They were also very 
like in outward appearance, save for the differ- 
ence in physical strength ; though Gail in- 
sisted that “ Jerry is the brain and I only the 
body of the pair.” 

But the girl herself had brains in plenty 
and was swift to find a way out of every 
trouble she got into. Which was a good 
thing for, as she had admitted, she generally 
acted without much thought ; as now, de- 
lighted to secure new models for her artistic 
brother she had not stopped to consider how 
these models were to be kept alive and in 
vigor. But they must be kept, somehow. 
She had promised Jerry that they should be, 
and she would never disappoint him — never ! 

So all the while she was dashing through 
her dishwashing, her face was thoughtful and 
she had scarcely rinsed and hung up her 
towels before she had seized her hat and pre- 
senting herself before her mother, asked : 


34 


The Heroine of Roseland 


“ Motherkin, may I go to Mr. Sampson’s ? ” 

Mrs. Graham looked up rather anxiously 
from her darning. “ Motherkin ” always pre- 
ceded some unusual request, as this. What 
further annoyance had that evening in store 
for her ? She replied by another question : 
“ Why ? ” 

Mr. Sampson was the butcher and his shop 
probably closed long ago. Besides, Mrs. Gra- 
ham preferred to do her own marketing, and 
Gail had a fastidious dislike to “ that raw- 
meaty place,” even when sent there upon an 
errand. 

“ Because the dogs will have to eat and I 
know you want all the table scraps for your 
hens. I’ll have to get cats’ meat for them of 
him, — if I can.” 

“ Cats’ meat for dogs ! How silly you are, 
Gail ! ” corrected Luella, from her own low 
chair near the lamp, where she was crocheting 
trimming for an apron. From the fact that 
she disliked wearing any garment not fanci- 
fully decorated and that she was perfectly 
willing to use her own skilful little fingers 
for the purpose, Luella’s nickname was the 
“ Trimmer.” Also, because she had already 


The Greenhouse Menagerie 3$ 

become a clever needlewoman, she had a fine 
disdain for her sister who was so big and so 
awkward at sewing. 

“ Well, small sister, it would be dogs’ meat 
in our case. Peter said that a little meat 
boiled up in a good deal of Indian meal made 
good food for them.” 

“ Even cats’ meat costs money, Abigail. 
How would you pay for it?” asked the 
house-mistress. 

“ By doing something I — I hate — but could. 
Twice, lately, Mr. Sampson has asked me to 
help him ‘ a minute ’ fix his books. His ac- 
counts, I mean. He’s a horrible writer and a 
worse figurer and gets things so mixed. So, 
when he’s been cutting our meat and I’ve 
been waiting I’ve sometimes straightened out 
a page or two of what he calls his ledger. A 

greasy old ten-cent copy-book that smells 

Whew ! Now, if you’re willing, I’m going to 
offer to keep his book for cats’ meat. He’s 
too stingy to pay a regular clerk but I hope 
he’d pay me, this way. And the meal — but I 
haven’t got to the meal part yet. May I ? ” 

“ You must not let the bookkeeping inter- 
fere with your home work, Gail, and I doubt 


36 The Heroine of Roseland 

if the man will agree to it. He’s very penu- 
rious/’ said Mrs. Graham, “ but you may try, 
if you wish.” 

“ Whom do you expect to bring home your 
nasty old cats’ meat, Miss Abigail ? You 
needn’t look to me to do it, and you know that 
Tom’s no dependence. I’d rather go without 
a dog all my life than earn one that way,” ex- 
claimed Luella. 

“ Oh ! no you wouldn’t, girlie, if it were 1 for 
Jerry ’ ; and I shall trouble nobody to help. 
Fancy ! One of those ‘ odd Grahams ’ going 
into business ! The butcher business, at that ! 
But I’ll do anything 1 for my Jerry,’ so wish 
me luck and here goes ! ” 

Away she sped up the darkening street, 
bolstering her own courage for a distasteful 
task, and for the almost harder one of asking 
a favor ; and arrived at the shop only to find 
it closed. But a light shone from the windows 
behind the shop and, folding her arms tight, 
as if bracing herself for a trial, she hurried to 
the open side door, and called : 

“ Mr. Sampson ! Oh, Mr. Sampson, please.” 

“ He ain’t here. Who’s there ? Shop’s shut 
this hour,” answered a voice from within. 


The Greenhouse Menagerie 37 

“ It's I, Gail Graham. I came to see Mr. 
Sampson on business, but — but I’ll call again ; ” 
for the girl had recognized the voice as belong- 
ing to the butcher’s wife, and if there was one 
of her neighbors whom she cordially disliked 
it was good-natured Mrs. Sampson, the town 
gossip. 

But the woman was already at the door, 
pleased by the chance of an evening visit, even 
that of a young girl, and eagerly assuring her 
caller that : 

“ I told him he better not go out to-night. 
Somebody’s sure to come, forgot their mornin’ 
meat. But he’ll be in right to once. He 
ain’t gone no further nor the post-office. Not 
that we ever get any mail, ’cept once a week, 
the ‘ Marketman’s Journal,’ an’ that ain’t due 
till Monday. Come right in an’ se’ down. 
How’s your ma? An’ little sis, an’ Tommy 
— ain’t he the boy ? Never see his beat for 
1 tradin’ ’ an’ gettin’ old truck an’ dicker. 
Makes it all over new, too, my Adelbert says. 
Come right in. Take my chair. It’s the 
comfortablest, an’ he’ll be here in a minute. 
How’s that other boy, your twin ? Ain’t he 
the very peakedest creatur’ ’t you ever see and 


38 The Heroine of Roseland 

live ? Tears like he gets peakeder ’n ever all 
the time. My Adelbert’s home. He’ll be 
glad to see you. He’s quite takin’ to noticin’ 
the girls, lately. Delly ? Oh, Delly ! Come in 
the settin’-room. Dominie’s Gail has come to 
pay you a call.” 

“ Dominie’s Gail ” sprang to her feet with 
the impulse to run away. To face the butcher 
himself had been hard enough but to take his 
whole family into her confidence was too 
much. Adelbert ! Gail had to inwardly re- 
peat many times the talismanic words : “ For 
Jerry ! ” before she sat down again to meet 
Adelbert. 


CHAPTER III 


GAIL GOES INTO BUSINESS 

“ How are you, Miss Graham ? ” asked 
Adelbert, entering the room and sidling 
toward the visitor, awkwardly extending a 
long, clammy hand, which Gail did not take 
— a fact that surprised its owner, who settled 
himself on the lounge, his legs stretched out 
straight forward and his arms along its back. 

“ If he were a sum I’d do him by linear, 
measure,” thought the schoolmaster’s daugh- 
ter, surveying the uncouth lad as she would 
some natural history specimen. “ He’s long all 
over, and lanky — and so silly ! Seems as if 
he couldn’t belong to the same class of human 
beings as my Jerry.” 

Then, as if her own thought of her brother 
had brought him back to Mrs. Sampson’s 
mind, that lady remarked : 

“ Never thought when you folks moved 
here ’t you’d ever raise your twin. He’s 
grown tall, guess he an’ Delly’s about of a 
39 


40 


The Heroine of Roseland 


height. Never make old bones, poor creatur’ ! 
Pity he’s so sickly ! ” 

For a moment Gail’s heart stood still. Jerry 
was called “ delicate,” she had always known 
that ; it was the fact around which all the 
family affairs revolved, and from her earliest 
memory there had been no difference. But 
“ sickly ” ? The word was repulsive, suggest- 
ing unpleasant things. There was nothing 
repulsive about her Jerome. Nothing, never. 
He was the sweetest, purest, most beautiful 
thing in the whole world — her world. And 
outside of it she could imagine nothing more 
lovely. She hastened to correct Mrs. Samp- 
son’s opinion : 

“ Beg pardon, but my brother is not 1 sickly.’ 
And he is not, in the slightest degree, like 
Adelbert.” 

“ In looks, he ain’t, ’course. Delly’s fair as 
a lily and Jerome, he’s one of the dark com- 
plected kind — like you. Queer ! Me and him 
has often noticed how you two older ones was 
like your pa — he’s dark as a mulatter — and 
the other like Mis’ Graham. Blue eyes and 
good skins. She’s an awful smart woman, 
your ma is ; else she’d never get through all 


Gail Goes into Business 41 

the work she has to do with such an odd fam- 
ily as she has to manage. Why, Delly says 
you have regular doin’s with all them wild 
animals you keep in that old greenhouse cir- 
cus. Don’t see how she puts up with it, and 
she so terrible tidy.” 

Some reply seemingly expected, Gail an- 
swered, stiffly : 

“ We have no 1 wild 9 animals in our ‘ me- 
nagerie ’ ; and none are allowed to worry 
mother. We take care of them ourselves, as 
well as help her with her poultry.” 

“ Humph. Glad of that. As I say, she’s 
a nice woman. I wish she’d be more neigh- 
borly like, but I s’pose she don’t care to mix 
much with folks, she’s so close mouthed and 
people will ask questions. How old be you 
now ? ” 

“ Fourteen.” 

“ Jerome's about the same, I guess.” 

“ Probably ; since we are twins,” said poor 
Gail, pondering an escape and wondering how 
long “ he ” would be detained. 

Adelbert said nothing, feeling that his 
mother was fully capable of entertaining their 
visitor, but he kept his protuberant eyes fixed 


42 


The Heroine of Roseland 


upon her till she was disconcerted and rest- 
lessly straightened the folds of her over-full 
skirt. This action diverted Mrs. Sampson’s 
attention to Gail’s attire and she remarked : 

“ Ain’t it queer how much more pains your 
ma takes to make Luelly look nice ’n she does 
you? But I’ve heard she didn’t have to buy 
no clothes for you two big ones. They’re al- 
ways give to you. Is that so ? ” 

It came to the tip of Gail’s too-ready tongue 
to retort impertinently, but her very indigna- 
tion helped her to keep quiet, as, also, did an 
injunction of her always courteous father : 
“ Be more polite to the ignorant, or inferiors, 
than to even your equals.” Besides, the 
funny side of this cross questioning showed it- 
self and wondering how much more her host- 
ess might desire to know, she answered, 
quietly : 

“ Yes, it is so.” 

“ Law me ! Now ain’t that nice. Saves 
your pa a lot of expense. I s’pose some of 
his rich relations does it, don’t they? ” 

“Yes. My Aunt George.” 

“ Sho ! Never heard of a woman named 
1 George.’ Thought that was a man’s name,” 


Gail Goes into Business 


43 


continued the now thoroughly happy Mrs. 
Sampson. She was finding this Abigail Gra- 
ham, the Dominie's “ offish ” daughter, the 
most delightful of visitors, and positively 
glowed with satisfaction when the girl smil- 
ingly replied : 

il It is. She’s my Uncle George’s wife. It’s 
just the Graham way of talking. We fit names 
to everybody — only for fun ; and as she’s said 
to be just — just the shadow of her hus- 
band — we say that. I expect she’s a very kind 
person.” 

“ She must be. How often does she send 
your things ? ” probed the inquisitor. 

Gail laughed outright, then gravely re- 
plied : 

“ Twice a year. Every spring and fall. 
Mother thinks that Aunt George is bidden to 
do this by Uncle George and has to make the 
money he gives go a long way ; which ex- 
plains that my things are always a little out 
of date — they’re cheaper so — and of unpopu- 
lar colors. Else, she wouldn’t, likely, have 
sent me this big-plaided skirt to wear with a 
green waist and a red hat trimmed with blue. 
I’m a trial to my little sister, Luella, whose 


44 


The Heroine of Roseland 


clothes always match, even if they are of cheap 
material. Luella is a much cleverer girl than 
I am. She can fix her things herself while I 
— I hate a needle and thread.” 

Gail had delivered herself of all this infor- 
mation, hoping to tide over further question- 
ing till Mr. Sampson’s return, and feeling that 
if that were not a speedy one she could not 
await it. 

Adelbert now volunteered a compliment : 

“ I think you look nice in anything. I — I 
wouldn’t mind goin’ out walkin’ with you 
even — even in them things.” 

Upon this outburst, the youth’s doting 
mother rolled her eyes upward, smiled and 
winked at Gail, in a manner meant to be very 
knowing but which that young person con- 
sidered decidedly silly. 

As she made no verbal comment on Adel- 
bert’s chivalrous statement, Mrs. Sampson’s 
thoughts returned to Jerome’s health, and she 
inquired : 

“ Has your brother been more complainin’, 
this spring, ’n usual ? I ain’t seen him pass, 
lately.” 

“ My brother never complained in his whole 


Gail Goes into Business 


45 


precious life ! ” responded Gail, indignantly. 
“ He'd scorn to do such a thing. And I 
wish you’d please understand that he isn’t at 
all what you call 1 sickly.’ He has never been 
very strong. That’s all. He’s no different 
from all the time past. Do you think your 
husband will be here soon ? ” 

“ He ought. But why, if he ain’t no worse, 
has the Dominie gone and bought a donkey 
for him, then? I heard the doctor said it 
might be a good thing, so when the cotton- 
duck-supe wanted to sell hisn your pa snapped 
at the chance, though there was others wanted 
it.” 

“ A donkey ! My father has bought a don- 
key ? Well ! that’s news to me ! ” cried the 
astonished visitor. “ I think you must have 
been — been misinformed,” she finished, using 
the most impressive word she could recall, and 
wondering, in her heart, if this thing could be 
true, yet she not the first to hear it. For, of 
course, she did not know that her parents had 
purposely kept the fact for a surprise to Jerome, 
to be postponed until the animal’s actual ar- 
rival at Roseland. 

“ Oh ! No, ma ain’t mistook. Me and pa 


46 The Heroine of Roseland 

was right there before the tavern with a couple 
of calves in tow when ’twas done. The donkey 
shied at the calves and the calves shied at the 
donkey, an’ we had enough to do till we tied 
their legs. Yes, sir, guess it was ’most as good’s 
your circuses ! ” corroborated Adelbert, glad to 
have speech of any sort with one of the Domi- 
nie’s household, which had long been his secret 
models of behavior. The twins were about his 
own age and the lad’s admiration of the hand- 
some Jerome was as sincere, if not as profound, 
as Gail’s own. 

On the rare occasions of his young life when 
Jerry had been strong enough to endure the 
discipline of regular school sessions, Adelbert 
Sampson had always been also present. When 
Jerry lapsed so did Delly ; and it was his fond 
mother’s assertion that : 

“ Them two boys is mate and mate. Like 
as two peas ; only my Delly, he’s got a heart 
and the schoolmaster’s boy hasn’t. More 
nourishment, ourn gets, though don’t put no 
fat on his bones. We’ve been particular, him 
and me, to have our only son keep the best 
company in Millville, and there’s nobody 
better ’n the Grahams, though they are so kind 


Gail Goes into Business 


47 


of set up an’ stand-offish. But Delly, he’s as 
good as them if he ain’t as odd. They’re all 
queer together, from the father down. I al- 
ways studied out there was some kind of mys- 
tery ’bout ’em. I can’t fathom it yet, but I 
will some time.” 

“ I reckon you will, neighbor,” had replied 
Uncle Hiram Smith, the old wood sawyer, 
whose antiquated mill stood on the branch of 
the Washoe which circled the grounds of Rose- 
land, and whom the young Grahams considered 
their closest friend. “ But I wouldn’t worry, 
if I was you. The Dominie and his tribe may 
be odd ; but — just stop and reckon up what 
Millville would be without them. Then leave 
’em to go their own gait and be thankful you 
know ’em.” 

“ Well, I shall raise my Delly as genteel as 
I know how ; and here’s your joint — fifty 
cents’ worth as good mutton as ever was cut 
out of sheep ! ” had responded the matron, 
serving at need in her husband’s shop, and 
handing to the old man his present pur- 
chase. 

“ Raise him sensible, and let the genteel 
part take care of itself,” had been the unheeded 


48 The Heroine of Roseland 

advice, when this talk had taken place some 
years before. 

The result of Adelbert’s enforced gentility 
was evident that memorable evening, when 
his father had returned and Gail had forced 
herself to tell her errand ; for he not only re- 
mained to hear their business discussed but to 
make some comments upon it, which hia 
father cut short by saying : 

“You young popinjay, you ! Keep still. 
AiiTt it disgrace enough to me to have you so 
dull you can’t add up a row of figgers ? I had 
no chance, when I was a boy, I hadn’t. But 
you’ve had. All the schoolin’ you could take, 
and what’d I hear this very night down to the 
office, but as how you go by the name of 1 Sissy 
Sampson ! ’ Ugh ! You’d better not let a girl 
shame you no more.” 

With that the butcher discussed terms with 
his would-be bookkeeper ; with the result that 
she felt she could earn all the meat Jerry’s 
dogs would require and that her employer had 
made a close bargain in her services. But in 
vain she tried to reckon how much cats’ meat, 
at five cents a pound, it would take to cover 
six hours’ labor a week ; or as many more 


Gail Goes into Business 49 

hours as might be required to straighten the 
butcher’s tangled figures. 

Between the gossiping cross examination 
she had endured and the facts it had disclosed, 
her head was sadly confused and aching ; and 
for the first time in her life she was terrified 
concerning Jerry’s health, indignant that any- 
body should dare to consider him seriously ill, 
and almost angry with her father at his se- 
crecy about the donkey. In her eagerness to 
escape this house, she said a hasty “ Yes ” to 
all Mr. Sampson’s suggestions and an equally 
hasty, “ Good-night, all,” and stepped out into 
the night. 

Its darkness, accented by the lamplight 
within, struck her like a wall, and a sudden 
burst of thunder warned her that a storm was 
near. 

“ Oh ! How long I must have stayed ! 
What will mother say ! ” she exclaimed to her- 
self, though as it happened, loud enough for 
Adelbert to overhear. 

“ Never mind what she says. ‘ Scoldings 
don’t hurt none, and whippings don’t last 
long,’ and I’ll see you home ! ” consoled that 
gallant youth. 


50 


The Heroine of Roseland 


Gail’s hat blew off and though she had to 
stop and rescue it, she pretended not to have 
heard the boy’s speech. But his mother had 
heard and interposed : 

“ Now, sonny, you’ll do nothin’ of the kind. 
You don’t know what might happen if the 
shower come up an’ you got your feet wet. 
You stay right here to home with me.” 

There was a moment’s hesitation in Adel- 
bert’s mind ; then he answered as valiantly as 
rudely : 

“ You shut up, Ma Sampson ! I ain’t a 
goin’ back on my word if it does rain. I said 
I’d see her home and I will. So there ! ” 

“ Well, if you do, you’ll have pretty good 
eyesight ! ” called a dear, merry voice from 
somewhere in the darkness, as Gail’s nimble 
feet carried her swiftly down the long, steep 
street. 

She had almost reached its limit and 
the gateway of her home when her break- 
neck speed was arrested by a collision with 
somebody, trying to make his way amid un- 
known surroundings. 

“ Hello, there ! ” cried a masculine voice, 
quite unfamiliar to the breathless girl. 


Gail Goes into Business 51 

“Yes — hello yourself! I mean — beg par- 
don. I didn't see you. I ” 

“ Exactly. I’m — I was — in the same fix 
myself. Can you tell me if I’m on the road 
to Mr. Graham’s house. Schoolmaster Gra- 
ham.” 

“ Surely. It’s my home. I’m his Gail.” 

“ Ah ! indeed ! I call that a most fortunate 
collision if you will guide me there.” 

“ Certainly ; it’s not far now,” answered the 
girl, yet with a new disturbance in her heart. 
Another idle speech of Mrs. Sampson’s, that 
had been scarcely heeded when uttered, re- 
turned to set her wondering if the gossip had 
been true, after all, and if this were the man 
which it concerned. If so 

Well, she had promised to take him to her 
father but she half-wished the stranger might 
fall into some bottomless hole of the old path- 
way before that meeting took place. 


CHAPTER IV 


INTRODUCING BALAAM 

For the first time in her young, healthful 
life, Gail could not sleep. She had found her 
father busy over his books in the little parlor, 
or study, and had presented the stranger as : 

“ A gentleman who wishes to see you, fa- 
ther, and whom I ran against in the darkness. 
We got home just in time — hear that rain ! ” 

Mr. Graham had risen and bidden his vis- 
itor good evening, proffered him a chair, and 
looked toward his daughter in a manner she 
understood to mean dismissal. So she stepped 
to his side, kissed him good-night, warned him 
to watch that it did not rain in the windows 
and disappeared up the stairs. But she had 
occupied her few moments of delay to scruti- 
nize the guest’s appearance. He was a stranger 
to Millville, of that she was sure. He was a 
much younger man than the Dominie but 
bore about him the same unmistakable air of 
refinement and culture. Yet, oddly enough, 
52 


Introducing Balaam 53 

his intelligent face offended her and she would 
far rather have had him one of the mill men, 
come — as they sometimes did — with com- 
plaints about the master’s treatment of their 
children. 

Another curious effect the caller’s appear- 
ance had upon her was that she shrank from 
speaking of him to her mother, whom she 
found shutting up the house against the storm 
and whose question as to what unfamiliar 
voice she heard below she answered hastily : 

“ Oh ! just a man come to see father. But 
mother ! What is that I heard about a 
donkey ? ” 

Mrs. Graham laid her finger on her lip, 
warning silence, and glancing toward the big 
room which the brothers shared in common. 

“ Softly, Gail. They’re asleep, I think. 
You’re very late, but come into my room. I 
will explain.” Her tone was vexed. 

“ Yes, mother, I know and I’m sorry. 
But Mr. Sampson was away and I waited for 
him, and Mrs. Sampson told me. I didn’t 
believe it at first, but Adelbert insisted it was 
true. Is it?” 

“ Yes. Your father intended it as a sur- 


54 


The Heroine of Roseland 


prise. It is for Jerry. To keep him out of 
doors. It tires him so to walk. It is to come 
here in the morning. I wish that woman 
had not gossiped and spoiled your father's 
pleasure in the gift," answered Mrs. Graham, 
beginning to make ready for bed. 

“ But — I’m so glad ! What fun it will be ! 
Yet ’’ 

“ Well, child. What are your ‘ buts ’ and 
‘yets’? If you’ve questions to ask, be quick 
about them. I’ve had a hard day and am 
tired.’’ 

“ Only, I wondered how we could afford 
such a luxury.’’ 

“ We ought not, and could not, if we lived 
anywhere else than at Roseland. Your father 
claims there is grass enough going to waste to 
feed the creature, although I don’t know how 
he reckons that, since we’ve always sold the 
grass, and its price has been a help. How- 
ever, the matter is settled, and if we don’t — 
don’t need the animal after the summer is 
over, it can be sold. There, don’t ask any 
more questions, and don’t tell the other chil- 
dren. Let your father have his surprise, if 
he enjoys it. Oh ! I wish that man would 


Introducing Balaam 55 

go away and let the house get quiet ! My 
head aches. Good-night.” 

Gail had entered her mother’s room, intent 
upon asking many questions, and upon mat- 
ters far more grave than the coming of the 
donkey, but she shut them up in her own 
heart till a more convenient season, and very 
noiselessly — for one so impetuous — she waited 
upon the tired house-mistress, bound her 
aching head with a soothing lotion, and, when 
all was ready, turned out the light and left 
the room. 

Any demonstrations of affection between 
these two were rare ; and almost as rare 
was the slight word of praise and gratitude 
which followed her away : 

“ Thank you, Gail. You are a good girl.” 

But this was music in her ears, and should 
have sent her to her own bed, where Luella 
was soundly sleeping, and to happy dreams. 
On the contrary she tossed restlessly, and the 
low murmur of voices began to annoy her as 
greatly as it had done her mother. Even 
when the voices ceased and she heard the 
outer door shut and fastened upon the 
stranger’s departure, she could not close her 


56 The Heroine of Roseland 

eyes. So, cautiously rising, lest she wake 
some sleeper, she crept to her window and 
looked out. The study was directly beneath, 
and she could see a light streaming outward 
over the grass. This meant that the school- 
master was still below stairs, and, in another 
moment, she was at his side. 

“ Why, Gail, my child ! You awake so 
late? Are you ill ?” 

She had come to unburden her own wor- 
ries, but a glimpse of her father, as she tip- 
toed into the room, had, for the moment, ban- 
ished these. She had found him with his 
arms outstretched upon his desk and his head 
bowed upon these, and she had heard a sort of 
groan escape him, with the one word “Fail- 
ure ! ” 

“ Father, dearest ! Who was that man ? 
What did he want ? What makes you look 
so unhappy? Oh ! I wish I’d never, never, 
shown him the way ! I wish I’d left him to 
fall down the old culvert and break his hate- 
ful neck ! ” 

It was the Dominie’s turn to be astonished, 
and both sternness and this surprise were ex- 
pressed in the one word : “ Abigail ! ” 



SHE CLASPED HER ARMS AROUND HIS NECK 




Introducing Balaam 57 

Whenever the girl was called by her full 
name by any member of the family, it — as 
Tommy expressed it — “ meant business ” ; but 
when it fell from the gentle schoolmaster’s 
lips, it sent a sharp pain through her heart. 
In a moment she had drawn her kimono 
tight around her, and made a place for herself 
upon his knee, while she clasped her arms 
around his neck. 

He made a whimsical protest against this 
action, saying : 

“ Getting a big girl for this sort of babying, 
my dear ! ” 

But he put his own arm about her, and she 
dropped her head on his shoulder, begging : 

“ Now, father, tell me ; ’cause I heard — 
that wretched old Sampson woman ” 

“ Mrs. Sampson is not old, girlie, and speak 
respectfully.” 

“I can’t. Not of her. Not yet. I — I — 
hate her.” 

“ Abigail ! You hate nobody. You mis- 
judge your own warm heart. Now, out with 
it : what has our neighbor done to you ? ” 

“ More harm than I can tell, all at once. 
First : is that the new man who’s come to — 


58 The Heroine of Roseland 

to — to see about taking your place in the 

school? Is he? I never dreamed ” 

The Dominie’s fine face turned paler even 
than its wont, as he answered : 

“ And I never dreamed that this matter had 
become public gossip ! ” 

“ Why, father, you’ve always been the head 
of the school here. Always, since it was 
started. Everybody in Millville loves you. 
Every child in the mills, that has a bit of 
education, owes it to you. I was only a baby, 
you said, when you came. I can remember 
nothing different all my life. Why should 
you want to go away ? ” 

He leaned his cheek against her head and, 
in a tone as sad as calm, replied : 

“It is not I, Gail, who wishes for a change. 
But — the world progresses ! and the trustees 
of Millville public school have decided that 
I do not progress ! They need a change — for 
less money. But — I had hoped that change 
wouldn’t come yet. Not just yet.” 

For a time they sat in silence ; each lean- 
ing upon the other, as it were, each seeking 
for the right word of comfort. At last Gail 
fancied she had found it. 


Introducing Balaam 59 

“ I’m sure as sure that there’s some great 
mistake. The trustees don’t understand. 
Why, father dear, I’ve heard you say yourself 
that some of them can scarcely write their 
own names. That Mr. Sampson, for instance. 
If he were told how hard you study, how you 
spend more money than mother thinks you 
can afford in buying new books and journals, 
I’m sure he’d not let you go. Not for any- 
thing in the world ! What would the dear 
old schoolhouse be without my father at its 
head?” 

“ It’s not to be even the * dear old school- 
house,’ daughter. The people propose to build 
a new one. To aid in doing this they claim 
they must reduce expenses. They pay me 
six hundred dollars. A younger, unmarried 
man, without a family, will serve for four. 
To him it’s merely a makeshift, an aid to his 
college course. But I — we cannot possibly 
live upon less. So it seems.” 

As Gail listened to his quiet talk, quiet both 
in tone and manner, she realized that this was 
no sudden news to the Dominie, and she won- 
dered why he had not spoken of it before. 
Also, it seemed to her that her mother’s rather 


6o The Heroine of Roseland 


sharp tongue would have uttered some com- 
plaint had she known of the matter, and she 
asked : 

“How long ago did you hear this, father? 
Does mother know? ” 

“ Several weeks. There will be no change 
until next fall and I did not tell her till the 
thing was really settled. You must not men- 
tion it, either, until I give you leave. I am 
more sorry than I can say that it came to your 
ears so soon and in the manner it did. Try 
to forget. We have still a long, bright sum- 
mer at old Roseland — and who can guess 
what a whole summer may bring forth ? 
Now, to bed ! Forgive your father if he has 
distressed you by his own disappointment, and 
go to sleep knowing that I have a fresh, far 
pleasanter surprise for you children in the 
morning. Good-night, once more. I shall 
go to bed now.” 

“ Father, I think you’re the bravest, noblest 
man who ever lived ! To have had this 
trouble and never to have said a word to any- 
body, to have been so cheerful — you are a 
wonder ! ” 

“My child! Don’t! Your love and faith 


Introducing Balaam 61 

are very sweet to me, but in the eyes of every- 
body else, the life of Philibert Graham would 
seem a failure. Good-night.” 

He put out the light and followed her up 
the stairs, smiling a little in the darkness and 
comforted more than he knew by his child’s 
loyalty. As for Gail, she was now smiling, 
too, remembering how little of a surprise to 
her, at least, was that which the schoolmaster 
had prepared for the morning. 

Of the other worries she had meant to dis- 
cuss she had almost forgotten to think, and 
would not now have spoken even were the 
chance offered. Why should she worry, any- 
way ? Jerome was just as well as he had always 
been. How could anybody be that horrible 
“ sickly ” who was so gay, so ambitious, so 
unfailingly gentle, even when he was most 
“tired”? True, he gibed at them all, set 
their various faults, as well as his own, in an 
absurd light which made them long to be 
cured of them, but did it in such a sunshiny 
way as nobody in the world could, save her 
darling Jerry. 

It was very late. Gail remembered that she 
had never been awake so long before, save 


62 The Heroine of Roseland 


when Luella and Tom had had the scarlet 
fever and nobody had slept, fearing what the 
night might bring of sorrow. She began to 
feel exceeding drowsy, and nestled down 
beside her little sister, picturing that small 
maiden’s critical surprise, yet delight, over 
that grand addition to the “ menagerie ” which 
was coming in the morning. Then she was 
asleep, worries and pleasures alike forgotten ; 
and the next thing she knew, Luella, wide 
awake and dressed, was skipping around the 
room, clapping her hands and exclaiming : 

“ Oh ! the darling little brown fellow ! 
Get up, Gail, get up quick ! How can you 
lie and sleep when such a perfectly beautiful 
thing nas happened ? Hark ! ” 

Through the open windows of the bo}^s’ 
room, across the hall, came excited chatter, 
bursts of laughter, and Jerome’s clear voice 
reciting an impromptu doggerel. “ Limericks ” 
were the commonest forms of fun with the 
schoolmaster’s children and out in the clothes’ 
yard the lad was busy concocting one : 

“ Oh ! see the donk, the wonderful donk ! 

With coat all brown, like a little monk. 

He’s a wee-scrimpy tail 


Introducing Balaam 63 

But an ear like a sail, 

And he sings through his nose : 1 Ah-honk ! 

Aw-lionk ! ’ 19 

The donkey had come, then, and she not 
present at his arrival ! 

“ What’s he like, Lu ? Does Jerry ” 

But Luella had paused to answer no ques- 
tions. She had been sent to wake the over 
late Gail and had vanished the instant she 
had done so, and it seemed to the impatient 
laggard that she never, never would be dressed ! 
She was half-minded to forego her bath, but 
knew she wouldn’t feel tidy without at least 
“ a dip and a rub,” so made both operations 
exceeding brief, jerked a comb through her 
short wet curls, literally “ threw ” on her 
clothes, and joined the group out of doors while 
still buttoning her waist — “ up all wrong ” — as 
critical Luella informed her. 

Nothing mattered. There stood the donkey, 
a “ thoroughbred, Californian burro, trained 
to the use of women and children,” as it had 
been advertised. A pretty, gentle little ani- 
mal, with big mild eyes, standing quietly 
to be admired, and wearing a comfortable 
saddle with a card attached. 


64 The Heroine of Roseland 

As Gail appeared Jerry caught her hand, 
bestowed a hasty morning kiss on her half- 
dried cheek, and gravely presented : 

“ Miss Graham — Mr. Burro. A gentleman 
and future member of the Roseland family. 
His first name — Miss Graham has the honor 
to mention that.” 

So saying, her twin gravely unhooked the 
card from the saddle and gave it to her. The 
card was inscribed : “ To Jerry, with love,” 

and as she read it Gail exclaimed : 

“ It’s father’s gift and he should name it ; or 
mother, if she wishes ! ” 

But in her heart she understood that the 
request was Jerry’s way of telling her he 
wanted her to share in everything he enjoyed ; 
and she was glad that both parents declined 
the “ honor.” The Dominie did so with a 
smiling shake of his head and her mother 
with the impatient remark, as she turned to 
enter the house : 

“ I can’t, but do get him named, somebody, 
and come to breakfast. It’s a trial to cook for 
this family — never ready to eat when meals 
are fresh.” 

“ Mr. Balaam Burro Graham, pleased to 


Introducing Balaam 65 

make your acquaintance. May you live long 
and be happy ! ” then quickly answered Gail, 
sweeping the indifferent donkey her profound- 
est curtsey. 

“ Now, let’s go. Tom, you may tether him to 
that clothes-line post and hurry in. It’s too 
bad to hinder mother when she’s so busy,” 
said Jerry ; and laying his thin hands on a 
shoulder of each sister gaily forced them along 
before him to the breakfast for which they 
were hungry but he cared not at all. 

Yet the meal was to be still further delayed, 
for at the entrance appeared the post-office 
clerk with a “ special delivery ” letter. Such 
a thing had never before occurred in this quiet 
household and it was with trembling fingers 
that Mrs. Graham, to whom the envelope was 
addressed, broke its fastening, while the too 
curious clerk lingered to learn “ the news.” 


CHAPTER V 


GREAT UNCLE JORAM 

Mrs. Graham read the letter, handed it to 
her husband, nodded dismissal to the postal 
clerk, and took her place at the table. If any 
of the young people expected to hear what the 
letter contained, they were to be disappointed. 
For the present the astonished lady kept 
silence, merely exchanging an excited, wonder- 
ing glance with her husband, then proceeded 
to serve breakfast as usual. Even the priv- 
ileged Luella ventured no more than : 

“ Wasn’t that queer, mother ? To have a let- 
ter sent to you and not we to have to go to the 
office after it ! Was it an Aunt George one ? ” 

“ Do you wish more oatmeal, Luella? ” was 
the house-mistress’s only reply, while Tommy 
cried : 

“ There, missy, you’re squashed ! ” 

“ Thomas ! ” reproved his father, and the 
boy devoted himself to his mush, yet kept a 
close watch upon all the faces about. Some- 
thing more than ordinary was in the air, and 
66 


Great Uncle Joram 67 

the mystery deepened when immediately the 
meal was over both parents went into the 
study and closed the door behind them. Mrs. 
Graham’s manner was as eager as agitated, but 
the schoolmaster had grown even graver than 
usual, and Gail wondered what new trouble 
had come to rest upon his shoulders. 

But she began, at once, to clear the table 
and make ready for her dishwashing and this 
natural proceeding served to make the others 
forget their curiosity and set about their usual 
tasks. To Luella belonged the feeding of the 
canary and the parrot, but she rarely attended 
to it, knowing that if she did not somebody 
else would, and Gail being that “ somebody.” 

Tom was supposed to look after his mother’s 
poultry and was more faithful to his duty than 
Luella to hers ; which was due, probably, to 
the fact that once a month, if he had not 
neglected it during that whole time, he was 
given ten cents. Out of the dime he had to 
pay his Sunday-school tithes, but what was 
left was his own to spend as he pleased. 
Tommy was very glad when the months had 
but four Sundays in their calendar ; those 
which had five were a trial to him and he had 


68 The Heroine of Roseland 

them all marked with the blackest of ink in 
the almanac which hung in the greenhouse. 

Jerry strolled out to inspect his new burro, 
reminding Gail that it was Saturday and a 
“ circus ” due. 

“ So hurry up your work, girlie, and let’s 
get 1 rehearsal ’ over early. Then, maybe, we 
can have a ride on Balaam.” 

“ Who’s ‘ we,’ brother? ” asked Luella. 

“ The four * silly Grahams,’ puss.” 

“ Did ever Jerry have anything he didn’t 
share with all, Lu ? ” demanded Gail. 

“ N-no. But — but he has never had a 
donkey-burro before. And there’s only a 
boy’s saddle came with it. The card said 
‘ To Jerry,’ and — and I think it might have 
been given to all if it were meant so.” 

“ Come, little sister, don’t be jealous. 
Jerome’s the oldest — bar me — and I don’t 
count. I’m only the lesser half of a splendid 
whole ! ” answered the elder girl, impulsively 
clasping her twin about his slender shoulders 
and keenly studying his face in the sunshine 
that fell on it through the open door. She 
was searching for signs of the “ sickliness ” 
which Mrs. Sampson had intimated but she 


Great Uncle Joram 69 

saw nothing different from ordinary. She 
wished he were strong, like other lads, but 
then — would he have been just the same 
beautiful, gifted Jerry ? 

“ There, Abigail ! ” he retorted, laughingly 
removing her hands. “ If I must be hugged 
let it not be by a wet dish-cloth. I washed 
before breakfast. Come on, Miss 1 Trimmer/ 
* Polly-cracker ’ has been screeching her head 
off and ‘Mosher ’ ringing his bell this ever so 
long. Tend to them and you shall have the 
first ride on Balaam.” 

“ Brother, no ! That shall be yours, it must 
be, father wouldn’t be pleased, else. Luella, 
don’t you be piggish enough to take it,” pro- 
tested Gail, always quick to look after Jerry’s 
interests. 

“ I had no idea of such a thing, Gail Gra- 
ham ! I guess I’m as much of a lady as you 
are, and ladies — real ones — are never ‘ pig- 
gish,’ ” returned the sister, giving her yellow 
curls that airy toss which was so character- 
istic, so pretty, and — so exasperating. Then 
she followed Jerome out of the house and Gail 
returned to her dishwashing with great haste 
and a keen regret that she had again come so 


7 o 


The Heroine of Roseland 


near quarreling with selfish little Lu. But 
her regret was not so much because quarrel- 
ing was wrong as that it annoyed Jerry. 

“ He shan’t see me do it again, Miss Tabb ! ” 
she remarked to one of the cats which had 
strayed indoors ; “ but 4 Trimmer ’ can be so 
disagreeable ! ” 

“ So can anybody. Your father among 
them ! ” snapped a voice behind her, the first 
intimation that the house-mistress had reen- 
tered the kitchen and was greatly annoyed. 

Gail dared not ask any questions, but pro- 
ceeded diligently with her own task, while the 
Dominie, also, reappeared, took his hat from 
its nail, and started off up the steep street. 

Mrs. Graham sat down and leaned her head 
on her hand ; then, after a moment re- 
marked : 

“ That letter was from your father’s Uncle 
Joram. He is coming to make us a visit. 
Land knows what we’re going to do with him, 
Job’s-turkey-poor as we are and not a spare 
room to put him in, and he so rich. The first 
time since you were born that he’s ever no- 
ticed my husband and now — to take us all un- 
prepared like this. I wanted Philibert to 


Great Uncle Joram 71 

make him stay at the tavern but he won’t. 
Says he owes a great deal to the old man, 
even if they have been estranged so long. 
Even said it was 1 Providential ’ — this visit. 
Well, I hope it will prove so. He’s rich 
enough, I guess, to support us all in luxury, 
if he had the mind. Anyhow, he may be able 
to help your father to something better than 
school teaching. ‘ I’ll give him the best I have 
for the sake of my boyhood, but I’m sorry he 
wants to come,’ was all I could get him to say. 
And the house in such a state ! Besides, 
where can he sleep ? ” 

It was sign of unusual perturbation on Mrs. 
Graham’s part that she should have said so 
much to Gail, but she was, indeed, sorely tried. 
Her husband had dashed her sudden hope 
that this unexpected visit might mean better 
fortunes for themselves, nor had he sympa- 
thized in the least with her anxiety as to the 
“ state of the house.” He had assured her 
that it was already spotlessly clean and ready 
for the reception of anybody at any and all 
times. But that was a man’s way. “ A man 
couldn’t see dirt, even if it was right under his 
nose ! ” 


7 2 


The Heroine of Roseland 


“ Well, Mary, a man would certainly have 
exceptional eyesight who could descry ‘ dirt ’ in 
a house you reign over/’ he had declared, and 
to end the discussion gone away. But he 
came back to say : “ Please don’t interfere 
with the children’s pleasure in their holiday. 
Saturday, you know, and I want Jerry to try 
his new steed ! Gail, take him to that place 
we found — behind the old sawmill — where the 
flowers are so thick and the pine trees make 
a shelter. It would be well to take his ham- 
mock on the donkey’s back, as well as him- 
self. Then he can rest without lying on the 
ground. Good-bye.” 

Gail had finished her dishes and stood per- 
plexed. She felt she ought to help her 
mother in this extra cleaning, although so un- 
necessary, yet that her father’s wish was al- 
most a command to go away with her brother 
into the restful woods and the pure, sweet air 
of that lovely morning. Of the delight this 
would be to herself she dared not think, lest 
she must give it up. 

“ Mother, what was the trouble between fa- 
ther and this Uncle Joram? ” ; 

“ I never knew. It is a myst^rj^ Phili- 


Great Uncle Joram 73 

bert will never speak of it, and has never be- 
fore spoken of his uncle, at all, since we were 
married. He said then that it was a personal 
matter which concerned the past and could 

not affect my comfort. But now Well, 

we shall know more when this visit is over.” 

“ I call it a visitation, not a visit ! Horrid 
old man, sending ‘ special ’ letters to scare 
hungry folks out of their appetites, and invit- 
ing himself where he isn’t wanted ! If there’s 
been trouble between him and my father, it’s not 
my father who’s to blame. I know that. And 
I know too, mother dear, that everything is as 
nice as can be already. You swept the rooms 
yesterday, as you always do on Friday. If you 
wish I’ll wash the windows for you and — let’s 
see. Put the gentleman to sleep in your room. 
You sleep with Lu, and father can lie on the 
lounge in the study. I’ll stay in the ‘ menag ’ 
with the rest of the wild beasts. It’ll be the 
safer place for me, because if Great-uncle 
Joram’s as hateful as I think he is I shall be 
apt to let him know I know it. I’ll sleep in 
Jerry’s hammock out there and dream I’m a 
sailor a-sailing on the deep blue sea ! * A life 

on the ocean wave. A home on the rolling 


74 


The Heroine of Roseland 


deep/ etc. And who knows? Maybe, just 
maybe, when this unknown gentleman really 
arrives he may find us such a perfectly, angel- 
ically delightful household that he’ll be angelic 
himself and adopt the whole crowd ! Maybe, 
maybe ! You’d look just sweet in gray silk, 
little mother; and you shall have a blue ki- 
mono for headachy days No ! there’ll be 

no headachy days when Uncle Joram makes 
us rich ! And, if I get the windows done, the 
beds made, and the vegetables ready for din- 
ner, can I go with Jerry ? Take a bit of bread 
and butter or something for lunch, and get 
home by three o’clock — circus time? Can 
you spare me ? ” 

“ Yes. I’ll try to.” Mrs. Graham’s tone 
was much more cheerful and the girl’s review 
of the situation had made her see for herself 
how much better it was than she had, at first, 
thought. Unfortunately, she was one of those 
over-nice housekeepers who find it necessary 
when a guest is coming to refurbish their 
whole house, as if a well-bred guest would 
ever poke about looking for faults. But Gail’s 
“ maybe ” had so fitted in with her own secret 
hope that she felt it strengthened into the be- 


Great Uncle joram 75 

lief that old Mr. Graham's coming was wholly 
a visit of reconciliation and beneficence. 

“ Never mind the windows, Gail, I'll have 
time for them myself. You never will poke 
your skewer close enough into the corners of 
the panes to get them really clean. But you 
can make a bed very well. Put the pair of 
linen sheets on mine and fix the room pretty. 
Then, after you’ve fixed the vegetables — it’s 
soup day, remember — you may go. I should 
be very sorry, myself, to disappoint Jerome 
and I do hope the donkey will help him. 
Else, it's too bad we bought him." 

“ Thank you, mother, and I'll ‘ kill two 
birds with one stone' — though I’d never kill 
any if you please ! But I'll run to Mr. Samp- 
son's, get my dog-cat meat and his book. 
He's going to put his sales down on a piece of 
paper every day and I'm to enter them all 
neatly in the book. He's promised to get a 
new one, too." 

At this moment Luella came in and her 
mother suggested : 

“ Lu might go for you, Gail, this once, and 
you get through that much earlier." 

“Go where? Go what?" demanded that 


76 The Heroine of Roseland 

young person, drawing her little chair toward 
the window and taking out what Tommy 
called her “ everlasting tatting.” 

She was soon informed of the letter’s con- 
tents, but instead of agreeing to her mother’s 
proposal she promptly declined it. 

“ Why, mother ! Company coming and the 
trimming not all sewed on my new white 
apron ! Not even done yet. No, indeedy ! 
I told Gail in the first place I wouldn’t fetch 
her old meat for her and I’ll have to work 
terrible hard to get this edging done in time. 
I don’t believe I can bother even with the 
circus ; ” and down bent the yellow head, in 
and out flew the little white fingers, and the 
pretty face settled into a very stubborn ex- 
pression. 

“Child! Not ‘bother’ with the circus? 
Why, whatever would the ‘ orchestra ’ be 
without our Jews-harper ? And all these new 
‘ features ’ of the ‘ trained dogs,’ the ‘ California 
burro ’ — by the way, how did you like to ride 
him ? ” 

“ I — I hated it. He’s got heels — for all he 
looks so mild. I was just smoothing his 
snippy little tail and up he flung them. You 


Great Uncle Joram 77 

and Jerry can keep your old burro, for all I 
care.” 

“ Luella, did he hurt you ? ” anxiously 
asked Mrs. Graham. Though, as she claimed, 
all her children were equally dear to her, 
danger to her golden-haired daughter alarmed 
her soonest. 

“ No, mother. He only hit the hem of my 
skirt. But he scared me horrid. I don’t like 
to be kicked at, and I don’t want to go to 
Sampson’s ” 

“ Say ‘ Mr. Sampson,’ dear. He’s a trustee. 
But you needn’t go. I will fix the vegetables, 
myself, and that will give your sister more 
time. Sit right still, honey, and do your 
pretty trimming. Mother’s proud of her 
clever little girl.” 

Gail laughed, but not unkindly. Though 
all the rest were expected to do their share, 
even Jerry had some light tasks, Luella had 
“ life made easy,” as Tom said. But, after 
all, she was not wholly selfish ; she had been 
spoiled by too much petting and admiration, 
and in her heart was very fond of her frail 
elder brother. She often remarked that he 
and she were the two “ refined ones ” of the 


78 The Heroine of Roseland 

work-a-day family, and the nearest like the 
wonderful young people of story-book pages. 
She now looked up from her work to offer : 

“ I’ll do whatever you want me to, here at 
home, Gail. I wouldn’t like to keep Jerry 
from going to the woods and I know he can’t 
go alone, without you.” 

This was more than enough to satisfy Gail. 
For anybody to be thoughtful of Jerome meant 
more to her, by far, than thought taken for 
herself. She had already picked up her dust 
cloths and brushes, ready to fix up her moth- 
er’s bedroom for Uncle Joram’s occupancy, 
but lingered to swing her arms about her 
little sister with an appreciative squeeze, 
crying : 

“ Oh ! you sweet thing ! Thank you for 
being nice to Jerry ! ” 

Luella wriggled herself free. 

“ Why shouldn’t I be nice to him, Abigail 
Graham? And I do wish you’d mind what 
3mu do. You’ve raveled a whole scallop of 
my work and I hate to be hugged with dust- 
cloths as much as Jerry does with dish-cloths. 
Do go on and not hinder ! ” 

Not the least bit offended by Lu’s petulant 


Great Uncle Joram 79 

answer, which was quite in the natural order 
of things, Gail went singing to her task above 
stairs and the house-mistress to her own prep- 
arations for the family dinner ; and before 
long everything was accomplished that need 
be before the twins’ first outing with Balaam. 

Though he had never ridden before, Jerry 
had no trouble with his gentle burro, the only 
difficulty being that he was “ rather too long ” 
for his mount, the stirrups lengthened to the 
last inch and barely escaping the ground as 
he rode. However, that chance to ride seemed 
like the gateway into a new world. Always 
a lover of outdoors, never able to walk far be- 
cause of that terrible oppression of his 
breath, he was so happy that Gail exclaimed : 

“ Oh ! you precious brother ! You just fairly 
shine ! and you make me so glad I can hardly 
help shouting. What lovely, lovely times we 
shall have ! what long, delightful days — any- 
where, everywhere ; what splendid chances 
for new things. You’ll find bugs and beasts 
galore, and I new flowers. I mean to be a 
first-class botanist when I grow up, and an 
artist. I suppose it’s being an ‘ artist ’ to be 
able to paint posies as well as if one could 


8o The Heroine of Roseland 


paint people. You the greatest sculptor in 
the world — your humble handmaiden the 
finest flower painter ! Hurray ! Hoor-ray ! 
Oh ! Hur-r-ray ! ” 

That Tommy did not join in this woods ex- 
pedition was his own fault. The forest did 
not appeal to him half as much as did an old 
clock that had come into his hands by way of 
exchange. He had exhibited his acquisition 
to the family, with the explanation : 

“ It's one of them fifty-centers, won’t-goers, ’t 
Jimmy Barlow’s aunt gave him to make him 
wake up. They was a alarm to it, but Jimmy 
busted that, first thing. Said he wasn’t goin’ 
to be scared the very minute he waked up, 
not for nobody. Didn’t care nothing for the 
clock, anyhow. House full of ’em, and after 
the alarm was spoiled what use ? So I 
swopped two-three dozen marbles, what 
Jerry made me out that new, hard clay, for 
the clock. I’m goin’ to take its insides out 
an’ put ’em back right. If I was a clock- 
maker, I’d be ashamed to make the won’t-go 
kind.” 

So, out in the old greenhouse Tom spent a 
happy morning. The twins had not taken 


Great Uncle Joram 81 

Juniper Tar and I Don’t with them. These 
were safely shut in the palm-house, and there 
was nothing to disturb the boy’s mind, so 
mechanically intent, save the familiar chat- 
tering of the gray squirrels and an occasional 
remark from the parrot. The lad’s back was 
toward the door of the greenhouse and he did 
not hear it opened, nor the entrance of a 
stranger. At that moment he had succeeded 
in making the alarm “ go ” at a sudden and 
fearful rate, by touching it with a small blade, 
and the noise was deafening. It was not till 
Polly-cracker had traveled around her cage, 
head downward, so many times that she was 
on the verge of bird apoplexy, and had 
screamed a new cry over and over, that Tom 
roused from his absorption and looked behind 
him. Then he sprang up and almost screamed, 
too. For there sat the queerest old man, the 
very image of the ogre in a fairy book, puffing 
and blowing like a porpoise, and staring 
about him from under terrible eyebrows in a 
manner quite fierce enough to frighten any 
little boy. 

“ Take off your hat ! Take off your hat ! 
Br-r-r-rr! Hold your old tongue-wicked — 


82 The Heroine of Roseland 


wicked — wicked creature ! ” shrieked Poll, 
almost crazy with fear or rage. 

But in reality Tommy was no coward. It 
had been the desire of his story-loving heart 
to see an ogre, a real one, and he was prompt 
to appreciate the visitation of this one. Also, 
the parrot’s new cry, “ Wicked creature ! ” 
astonished him, and must be the result of the 
ogre’s call. 

“ Humph ! I ain’t afraid of you ! ” cried 
the boy, thrusting his legs far apart and his 
arms akimbo, with a rather overdone air of 
bravado. 

“Huh! You aren’t, hey? Do you know 
who I am?” demanded the visitor, gruffly; 
then shifted his seat uneasily, and, in so doing, 
felt himself sinking downward through some- 
thing very wet. He seemed to be doubling 
himself up, his feet suddenly flying roofward, 
like the blades of a jack-knife, and his back 
going down till it looked as if his fat paunch 
would burst his vest buttons. 

“ No, I don’t, and I don’t care ; but I tell 
you what, there ain’t no old ogre ever lived 
going to squash all my Jerry’s nice wet clay 
out the box ! I — a pretty kind of a ogre you 


Great Uncle Joram 83 

are ! Quit squashing, I tell you, or I’ll call 
mother ! ” 

Then the ogre groaned and extended his 
fat, hairy hands, and by the force of his ter- 
rible eyes compelled Tom to seize them. 


CHAPTER VI 


UNDER APRIL SKIES 

Gail had hung her brother’s hammock 
under two freshly budding maples and he lay 
resting in it, with his gaze turned upward 
through the pink-tipped branches. Across 
the blue sky swept a few white clouds, which 
might develop into an April shower but, at 
present, served to pleasantly temper the sun- 
shine — hot for so early a season. His face 
was a trifle paler even than usual, as if his 
outing had been a bit wearisome, but he 
looked very happy ; and seeing him so made 
her exclaim : 

“ I believe if you could ride out here, or 
somewhere like here, every single day, you’d 
get as strong — as strong as Mr. Sampson ! He’s 
the strongest man I know. Queer, isn’t it? 
That he should have such a big, fine body and 
so little a mind.” 

“ Maybe not so little a mind as little edu- 
cation. I used to think that Adelbert had 
84 



“ISN’T THAT A LOVELY BUNCH OF BLOODROOT” 







85 


Under April Skies 

more sense than he got credit for ; only he’s 
been made a baby of to his undoing. Yes ; 
when I went to school, and saw him oftener, I 
liked him.” 

“ Jerry Graham ! You — liked — that Delly 
creature ? well, I am surprised.” 

“ Gail, don’t you let yourself take prej- 
udices. I want you to grow into a grand, 
just, impartial, noble woman. One that I 
should have been proud to claim my twin.” 

“ ‘ Should have been ! ’ What means my 
lord by that past tense when we are all in the 
4 future to come ’ ? See, isn’t that a lovely 
bunch of bloodroot? I believe — I’m almost 
tempted to put them in mother’s room for 
that horrid Great-uncle Joram who was so 
mean to father.” 

“ There you go again, girlie ! How do you 
know that he was mean to father ? how ” 

“ Jerry Graham, could father, himself, be 
mean to anybody ? ” 

“ No, I don’t think he could.” 

“But quarreling is meanness, isn’t it? If 
those two quarreled, as mother said, or left 
me to think, then the meanness must have 
been on the other’s side. I haven’t had a 


86 The Heroine of Roseland 


chance to tell you about my visit to Mrs. 
Sampson. I bate that woman ! ” 

“ You hate nobody, little sister. You 
couldn’t, if you tried, for your heart is too 
big. I think I’d drop that word, if I were 
you, dear.” 

The girl flung her lapful of flowers to the 
ground and sprang up to peer into the ham- 
mock in sincere astonishment. “ You turned 
critic, Jerry, you? Well, of all amazing 
things ! ” 

The lad laughed ; then said : 

“ Not hatefully critical, girlie, you know 
that. But my thoughts come so fast, I am so 
ambitious for you, and I have — so little time.” 

“ You ‘ have all the time there is,’ haven’t 
you, dear? And I fancied you were a trifle 
ambitious for yourself, my genius ! ” 

“ Oh ! I am. Never fear but that I’m al- 
most sick with longing to do some one wonder- 
ful, beautiful thing. But just one, even, would 
give me courage.” 

There was a new ring in the boy’s voice 
which struck his sister’s heart like a blow. It 
was almost a hopeless tone and she had never 
known Jerry to be aught but the most hope- 


87 


Under April Skies 

ful. Mrs. Sampson’s words came back to her : 
“ Peakeder than ever.” Was he ? Why was it, 
too, that all at once she had begun to worry over 
his extreme pallor and weakness ? She could 
not remember when he had been any different. 
From their babyhood she had been the strong 
one, serving him hand and foot, but not once 
having seen him ill in bed. “ Sickly ? ” 

“ Sickly ” people sometimes died Oh ! 

could Jerry? With a half-suppressed sob at 
the mere thought she bent above him, took his 
thin face between her hands and turned it 
strongly to the light, scanning it through fast 
rising tears with a very agony of love in her 
appealing gaze. 

“ Jerry, Jerry, sweetheart ! What is the 
matter? With you, with me, with — every- 
body? Only yesterday we were all so care 
free and happy, and now just within this one 
little night everything seems so changed. 
What makes me worry about you ? What 
makes father have to lose his school, if he 
doesn’t want to ? Why should horrid old 
great-uncles come and stir people up, this way ? 

Why — why Is there a mystery about us, 

about you and me, darling, as that dreadful 


88 The Heroine of Roseland 


woman suggested? Why — anything— every- 
thing ? ” 

“ I guess, sister, it’s what the books call 
1 life,’ and its perplexities. They come to 
everybody, I suppose, and we’re growing up. 
Very like Mrs. Tabb’s four kittens. She’s 
taken care of them all along, so lovingly, till 
the other day — when she cut them adrift to 
care for themselves. It was very droll. I was 
in the greenhouse, in my hammock, studying 
her lines and curves for a new model, when 
the fun began. The way she went for those 
babies when they bothered her was curious. 
Boxed their ears, snapped and growled at 
them, drove them off every time they invaded 
her own corner — I do wish you could have 
seen those astonished kittens ! Talk about 
expression ! I never saw a human face show 
more surprise, anger, disgust, and, finally, in- 
dignant independence than theirs did. If I 
could have put it all into clay ! I should 
have made our fortunes. I reckon we’re 
like the kittens, have grown up without real- 
izing it, and life is boxing our ears to rouse us 
to the fact.” 

It was a long speech for Jerry and left him 


8 9 


Under April Skies 

quite exhausted. He lay silent, after that, 
recovering, and Gail sat down on her rock to 
rearrange the flowers she had dropped. The 
peace of the scene stole into her troubled 
heart, and she was too young and healthy to 
grieve for long over imagined evils. But the 
suggestion of some “ mystery ” in their home 
remained to set her pondering, and, at last, to 
say : 

“ I never thought, till last night, but it is 
queer, it is very queer, that when Aunt George 
sends the boxes of clothes they are always just 
for you and me. I don’t remember that ever 
there was anything in them for Lu or Tom, 
or even for mother and father. They’re just 
clothes that have been picked out for cheap- 
ness, no matter whether they were pretty or 
not. Yours aren’t so bad because you’re a boy 
and tailors, who make boys’ things, don’t use 
blue or green or red in them. And why does 
she send the boxes, anyway ? ” 

“ Evidently, to save expense for father. It 
must have been arranged between them for 
he’s never surprised when they come.” 

“ Oh ! of course it’s ‘ arranged ’ — I under- 
stand that all right ; but — why ? That Mrs. 


9 ° 


The Heroine of Roseland 


Sampson put a lot of things into my head I’d 
never dreamed of before. I heard only half 
she said, either, she talked a blue streak ! but 
she thinks it’s queer you and I are so ‘ dark 
complected ’ while Lu and Tom are so fair. 
Also, she was complimentary enough to say 
that we are smarter than the others ! Ahem ! 
Don’t you feel ‘ sot up ’ ? Almost she made 
me fancy we were * changelings/ such as we 
read about in those Irish folk-lore stories. 
Who knows ? Maybe we are, prince and prin- 
cess, fairy creatures, or ‘ Little People ’ in dis- 
guise ? Heigho ! If that were true, wouldn’t 
it be fine ? Then all we’d need do when we 
wanted anything would be to wish. Say, 
brother, if you could have just what you most 
wished, what would it be ? ” 

Gail stretched her own slim body along on 
her mossy rock, clasped her hands behind her 
head, and gazed upward, as Jerry was doing 
from his hammock, beginning to trace pic- 
tures in the clouds and, for the moment, for- 
getting her recent and unusual “ worries.” 

“ What do I wish for, girlie ? What I have 
always wanted most of all was just strength. 
Strength — to do what any other boy of my age 


9 ‘ 


Under April Skies 

could do. Strength — to learn to be a real 
sculptor and make beautiful things for other 
people to enjoy. But now, lately, I don’t care 
for that so much, though I still long to do 
one splendid thing ! ” 

“ If ‘ one,’ sweetheart, why not many ? a 
hundred, a thousand, a whole life full ? ” 

“ One might be all that there was time for 
in one life. One uplifting thing left in the 
world might be enough to make that life worth 
while. But, after all, living beautifully is bet- 
ter than making even the grandest statues. 
So I guess, I begin to see, that making people 
happy is the best thing to wish for. Father 
says that ‘ goodness is happiness — happiness, 
generally, means goodness/ A reversible 
equation, isn’t it? I think he partly meant 
that unhappy folks are rarely good. We see 
that right at home every day. When things 
don’t go right we’re cross. So I ‘ cipher it out,’ 
as Uncle Hiram Smith says, that working, 
or trying, to make everybody happy would, 
also, be to make them good. And that’s what 
I’d like to do, if— there were time. Any- 
way, it’s what you must do — and do for us 
both, since it’s you who has the strength/’ 


9 2 


The Heroine of Roseland 


This was again a long discourse for Jerry, 
and it had been uttered so gravely that another 
keen pain shot through the listener’s heart. 
It seemed as if her beloved brother were des- 
pondent concerning his own strength — and 
that was a subject he had rarely talked about 
or even seemed to consider. Like the rest of 
the household he had accepted the fact that 
he was not like other lads, without either com- 
ment or complaint. Well, they hadn’t come 
out into the woods to be miserable ! And 
with something like resentment against these 
unaccustomed fears and fancies, Gail now 
left off cloud-gazing and sprang to her feet, 
exclaiming : 

“ Of all the ungrateful youngsters in the 
world, we’re the worst! Lying here like a 
couple of old growlers, trumping up troubles, 
when we’ve just been given this magnificent 
1 Californian,’ this glorious morning, and — two 
big, big slices of bread and butter ! Balaam 
has eaten all the nice young leaves he could 
reach and discouraged any nice 1 green grass 
growin’ all around, and the nice green grass 
growin’ round.’ I’ll take my little pail and 
go down to Uncle Hiram’s for water — ’cause 


93 


Under April Skies 

father forbade our drinking from this brook — 
then we’ll have lunch. I’ve noticed that when 
Tom gets a little crusty mother always gives 
him something to eat. What we two need is 
something to eat ourselves ; then life won’t 
appear half so solemn. Anyway, I blame my- 
self for beginning the blue talk. And ” 

Jerry laughed and sat up in his hammock, 
saying : 

“ I guess we have been rather ‘ serious ’ for 
folks that were off on a lark, and what’s to 
hinder my going with you to Uncle Hiram’s? 
I shan’t feel that Balaam is quite all right till 
we’ve had that expert’s judgment on his 
1 points.’ The wood sawyer’s the greatest 
horse trader in Millville, I’ve heard. And 
he’ll be glad to see us. He’s a sociable old 
fellow. You fetch up the steed and I’ll roll 
the hammock. Oh ! how sweet the air is ! 
But — isn’t it growing rather dark, all at 
once? ” 

They had been lying with their backs to- 
ward the west and now turning around Gail 
saw all that part of the sky covered with black 
clouds ; also, a sudden, swift breeze swept the 
ground and went sighing through the maple 


94 The Heroine of Roseland 

branches overhead, warning the uprising of a 
storm. 

“ My ! how threatening that looks ! Almost 
a greenish-brass color, like before a thunder 
shower. * April showers ’ may bring 1 May 
flowers/ but I don’t like your being caught in 
one, Jerry Graham. So, hurry up — I mean, 
of course, don’t hurry — but just — be as quick as 
you can without hurrying,” urged the girl, 
who had already brought up the donkey, and 
who knew well that any “ hurrying ” only 
hindered in Jerry’s case. A too hasty move- 
ment on his part was apt to bring on a sort of 
faintness that compelled complete rest for a 
few moments, till he could recover. 

But if he dare not hurry, she was anxious to 
get him under shelter as soon as possible, lest 
he take cold from getting wet. The old saw- 
mill, belonging to “ Uncle Hiram ” Smith — so 
called by all the children of Millville — was 
the nearest place she could think of, as well 
as the most delightful. To reach it in safety, 
to picnic in its wide shed — open on one side to 
face a charming outlook, perched on the great, 
sweet-smelling logs, with water to drink from 
the sawyer’s famous spring — what a delight- 


95 


Under April Skies 

ful climax to their lovely morning ! And as 
for the trip there, it would have just sufficient 
danger to be exciting. All sombre thoughts 
and fears were forgotten now, as Jerry mounted 
the willing Balaam, and they set off down- 
ward through the fast darkening wood toward 
that branch of the Washoe where the old saw- 
mill stood, with its one end finished to make 
a dwelling place for the sawyer. 

“ Seems as if that donkey was afraid he’d 
hurt his feet ! Did you ever see an animal so 
careful ? I do wish he’d hurry, for his doing 
so wouldn’t tire you. Come, slow-poke ! step 
lively, there ! ” cried Gail, as a roll of thunder 
warned her that the shower was really coming 
and rapidly. 

“ I’m not posted on burros, girlie, but I 
think I could travel faster on my own feet. 
Anyhow, there’s no need of two getting wet, so 
you go ahead and I’ll follow. ‘ If I had a don- 
key what wouldn’t go, do you s’pose I’d wal- 
lop him ? Oh ! no, no ! ’ Trot along and tell 
Uncle Hi that I’m on the road, somewhere.” 

“ Well, I guess not ! Leave you alone here 
in the wood ? what if he stumbled and threw 
you or ” 


96 The Heroine of Roseland 

Jerry shouted in laughter. “ Stumble? this 
careful creature? Never. Stumble isn’t in 
his vocabulary. But, giddap, Balaam ! Do 
you think we’ve all day to crawl down a 
briery, stony, woodsy hill? well, we haven’t. 
We’re the Great and Only Graham Circus 
Company ! The Greatest Show in Millville ! 
And you, Sir Balaam, are its newest, most 
attractive feature ! Move, sir, move 1 ” 

For answer, there came a deafening roar 
from the sky and the biggest sort of rain-drops 
began to pelt them. The effect was apparent 
astonishment on Balaam’s part; for he planted 
his forefeet firmly among the stones, dropped 
his head and stood rigidly still. 

Entreaties, cajolings, proddings moved him 
not ; but Jerry was already half-drenched, 
when Gail unwrapped the hammock and 
folded it tightly about her brother’s shoulders. 

“ That’ll do to keep the wet in if it doesn’t 
off ! ” consoled the lad, already shivering in the 
chill breeze which accompanied the shower ; 
“ and I really think I’d best get off and walk. 
That’ll warm me and keep me from taking 
cold. Oh ! you poor sister ! You’re soaked 
through. Why didn’t you wear a jacket? ” 


97 


Under April Skies 

“ How should I know it was going to rain ? 
or that this hateful, stupid beast would act so ? 
Oh ! I wish we’d never come ! Do you feel so 
very, very cold, sweetheart?” 

“ N-No-o,” answered the lad, with chatter- 
ing teeth. “ But I’m going to walk. Come 
on. We’ll go slow but move we must. 
Come.” 

“ But what shall we do with the donkey ? ” 

“ Leave him to consider his faults. I believe 
that as soon as he finds he’s being deserted 
he’ll follow.” 

Which proved to be exactly the case. No 
sooner than the twins had disappeared behind 
a clump of bushes, Sir Balaam set out to 
follow, and he did this with much less care 
concerning his steps than when he had borne 
his young master on his back. The fact was, 
though unknown to his new owners, that he 
had been trained to just such exceeding care 
when being ridden by the lame little lad to 
whom he had formerly belonged, and that he 
was less balky than he had seemed. 

The walk to the sawmill was the longest 
Jerry had taken that year and it was made 
uncomfortable by the steady downpour. Gail 


98 The Heroine of Roseland 

walked close beside him, a supporting arm be- 
neath his, and her basket of flowers in her 
other hand. Their paper-wrapped luncheon 
was beneath the flowers and thus, she hoped, 
kept dry ; but there was vexation in her heart, 
if not real tears in her eyes, that their happy 
morning should have ended so disastrously. 
Taking cold always effected the boy’s frail 
strength, though, oddly enough, rarely gave 
him a cough ; and it was such a pity he should 
take cold now, when the spring was here and 
so much to enjoy. Also, when he had just 
obtained two beautiful dog models and was so 
eager to copy them. And — would that slow, 
painful, downhill climb ever end? 

Of course it did. Sooner, maybe, than the 
anxious sister realized ; and there, as they 
came round the bend which showed the old 
sawmill at their very feet it seemed, was the 
dear old sawyer standing in the shed, gazing 
out as if he just expected them, and waving 
his arms in that hearty fashion which they 
loved. 

“ Well, well, well ! Of all the blessed things ! 
Here was I, all alone, with a big pot of soup 
a-boil, wishing some friend ’d drop in to enjoy 


Under April Skies 99 

it with me and along come you two, ’t I’d 
rather see than anybody else in town ! ” 

Nor did his warm welcome stop there. At 
one glance the sawyer had perceived the lad’s 
almost exhausted condition and, just as if it 
were part of the greeting, he now strode for- 
ward, slipped his arm under Jerry’s free one 
and thus helped Gail support him to the shed. 

“ Don’t do that ! You’re getting wet your- 
self,” warned the weary boy, though grateful 
for the aid. “ Gail’s my natural ‘ crutch.’ ” 

“ When I walk on crutches I use two. 
Two’s a pair, and if my girl here and I aren’t 
a pair, just let me know. Wet? ’Course. I 
like it. Makes folks grow. And though I 
be sixty-odd, I hope I ain’t done growin’ yet. 
There ! Here you are. High and dry, and 
as snug as a bug in a rug.” 

Between them, with scarcely the exchange 
of a word, the old man and frightened girl got 
Jerry into the inner room of the mill and 
upon Hiram’s own comfortable lounge. Then 
while he poured out a cup of the steaming 
soup and held it to the lad’s lips, she pulled 
off his wet shoes and stockings, slipped on a 
pair of their host’s own which stood as if 

LOf C. 


ioo The Heroine of Roseland 

waiting for this event close beside the roaring 
cook stove. Then she stripped the blankets 
from the old man’s bed and heaped them on 
her brother, while the sawyer made haste to 
heat a soapstone foot-warmer and put it to his 
guest’s feet. 

Jerry said nothing. He merely accepted 
these attentions, feeling the comfort of them 
and that he was now drifting away from the 
consciousness of them into a delicious rest. 

Gail was delighted to see his long lashes 
droop on his pale cheek and intimated by 
signs : “ He’s going to sleep ! ” He always 

did that when he was over-tired and the sight 
of him lying so quiet banished her late fear. 

Not so the sawyer’s, though he was too wise 
and kind to contradict her. In his own heart 
he realized with keen sadness that the com- 
panionable boy, whom he often called his 
“ chum,” was fast slipping away from them 
all. Well, it might be better so. Yes, it was 
better. Life wasn’t a chance affair ; and life 
prolonged for Jerry meant untold suffering. 

However, here he still was. Presently he 
would awake from that deathlike stupor which 
his twin fancied was but a healthful sleep, and 


Under April Skies 101 

then he must be made as happy as it was in 
their power to do. So, moving on tiptoe, the 
loving conspirators set out the dinner on the 
oilcloth-covered table, and garnished it with 
flowers from Gail’s basket. Then the host 
prepared what was for these plainly-reared 
guests a great treat ; he made them a pot of 
rich cocoa, in which there was no skimping 
of sugar. 

It was scarcely ready when Jerry opened 
his eyes and, with a long sigh, sat up. He 
always “ waked ” after these lapses of his, 
quite refreshed and strong, and the laugh he 
now gave gladdened Uncle Hiram’s heart and 
made him doubt his own judgment of the few 
minutes before. 

“ Dinner’s ready ! ” announced Gail, run- 
ning forward to remove the now burdensome 
blankets from her twin’s shoulders. “ Dinner 
at the mill ! Think of that, Jerome Graham, 
and hug yourself for happiness. Heigho ! 
Hark! Hear that? See here, Uncle Hi, 
you’ve another guest ! He’s a contrary 
donkey and his name is — Balaam ! ” 

There he stood, having walked through the 
outer room to the door of this one, peering in, 


102 


The Heroine of Roseland 


looking innocently guiltless of any offense, 
and quite as ready for his dinner as were these 
three humans. 

It needed but this touch to send them all off 
into hilarious laughter, the old sawyer fully 
as much a youngster as his guests and unaf- 
fectedly delighted to have them with him. 
He was not a busy man at any time. He 
had outlived that ; or, rather, progress had 
passed him by. The methods and machinery 
of his old mill could not compete with the more 
modern ones, up-stream ; and though a few 
patrons still remained to him, these were like 
himself “ old fogies,” who cared more to se- 
cure lumber from his well-seasoned logs, even 
if it must be long waited for, than to be more 
promptly and less honestly served. 

When he had a job on hand Uncle Hiram 
called the services of another “ old fog}' ” in 
to help, a man who had worked with him 
through many a year but who was now, like 
himself, “ shelved.” Between them they fin- 
ished the task — some time ! But, fortunately 
for both, they had always lived prudently and 
were quite “ forehanded ” enough to make 
them comfortable to the end of their days. 


Under April Skies 103 

So there was nothing left to worry about and 
Uncle Hiram Smith was the happiest man in 
Millville. His simple old bachelor house- 
keeping attracted plenty of visitors, so that, 
although he lived so alone and apart, he was 
always versed in the latest Millville gossip, 
and garrulously passed it on from guest to 
guest. 

The twins knew this and, even though they 
professed to despise the gossip, were human 
enough to enjoy hearing of the various happen- 
ings ; so, to-day, when the dinner was over 
and Gail was tidily washing up, not only the 
dishes used then but any others she could 
find tucked away out of sight, Jerry de- 
manded : 

“ Well, Uncle Hi, what’s the news? ” 

“ Humph ! Let me see. Hmm. I reckon 
that about 1 Big House 9 bein’ sold is the latest. 
Farmer Brown he fetched the word, cornin’ to 
order some them last year’s planks. Got to 
be some repairin’ done, he thinks, to some the 

outbuildings. A man by the name of 

Bless my stars ! If it ain’t your very own ! 
Graham. That’s what he said. Another 
crusty old bach’ just like me. Graham. 


104 The Heroine of Roseland 


Yes it was. Joram Graham ; said to have 
more money ’ n he knows what to do with. 
Odd, ain’t it ? ” 

It was so extremely odd that Gail dropped 
her dishpan, feeling as if a bomb had exploded 
in their midst. 


CHAPTER VII 


THE DISTURBANCE IN THE GREENHOUSE 

As Tom helped his ogre-like visitor to his 
feet, a voice screamed again : 

“ Take off your hat ! Take — off-your — hat ! 
You wicked cr-e-a-ture — Br-r-r-rr ! ” 

Instinctively the stranger clapped his 
hand to his head and doffed the objectionable 
hat, then looked about to see who had repri- 
manded him. All he discovered was Tom, 
holding fast to his sides and doubling himself 
up with laughter, and a crazy-looking parrot, 
rushing head downward about her cage. He 
indignantly demanded : 

“ What are you laughing at, you saucy 
boy ? ” 

“ Ain’t saucy. Didn’t mean to be. You — 
if you aren’t a ogre you’re the funniest thing 
I ever see ! ” 

“ Oh ! I am, am I ? ” 

“ That’s a nanagram. I can make nana- 
grams, too. Jerry he mostly makes the 1 lim- 
ericks,’ but I can nanagram first rate. Who 

105 


io6 The Fleroine of Roseland 

d’ you want to see ? the circus ? ’Tain’t time 
for that till three o’clock. And, say ! We — 
we’re goin’ to charge money, now. We have 
to. ’Cause there’s the new burro and the 
dogs ” 

“Dogs? Where?” cried the stranger, 
wheeling around so suddenly that his coat 
flew out and revealed his wet trousers. 

“ Why, in the circus ring ; ’course. But, 
say, mister, you’re all clayey water. You 
shouldn’t ought to have set down in Jerry’s 
box.” 

The old man put his hand to the rear and 
found that his garments were decidedly 
damp. Then he ordered : 

“ Wipe me off, can’t you ? Here’s my 
handkerchief. Who’s Jerry, and why should 
he keep a box of water to trap people with ? 
Clean me and get me something to sit on. A 
chair or bench, mind you, not a box of 
water ! Hurry up. Step lively, before the 
stains set, or I get rheumatism.” 

Tom set out to obey, but he did not hurry, 
not in the least. He could not. His atten- 
tion was riveted upon the red, fat, choleric 
countenance of the man — whom he had now 


The Disturbance 


07 


decided could not be that delightful creature, 
a real “ ogre ” — and upon a strange protuber- 
ance adorning that man’s bald head. When 
the stranger wriggled his bushy eyebrows, 
which he did continually, the queer thing on 
his bald pate seemed to slip forward and back- 
ward in a horribly fascinating way. Finally, 
he seemed unable to endure the lad’s open- 
mouthed stare, and asked : 

“What are you looking at? What’s the 
matter with you ? Why don’t you help 
me ? ” 

“ What — what’s that curious thing a-top 
your head, where the hair isn’t?” 

“That? Oh! that’s a wen. Didn’t you 
ever see a wen before ? ” 

“ No. I never saw a when. I never heard 
of one. I — does it hurt ? Why don’t you 
keep your when still ? It — it sort of scares 
me. It makes me feel all queer in my in- 
sides. If you want me to help you, would — 
would you mind putting on your hat again ? ” 
The stranger laughed. Such a hoarse, gruff 
laugh as Tommy had never before heard ; and 
the laughter seemed to distort the red, podgy 
features into a horrible grimace. Probably 


io8 The Heroine of Roseland 


the grimace was intentional, for a sly humor 
twinkled in the snapping, black eyes beneath 
the gray brows. 

But the hat went on, and Tom’s sense of 
decency returned. He pushed forward the 
best seat the place afforded, a chair with only 
one arm, and two rungs gone, and, taking the 
handkerchief, gingerly wiped the stranger’s 
garments. Then they both sat down and crit- 
ically studied each other, till, at last, the old 
gentleman inquired : 

“ What’s your name ? ” 

“ Thomas Jefferson Graham.” 

“ This your home ? How many of you are 
there ? Where’s the rest ? ” 

“ Yes, it is. They’s four of us children and 
two parents. A father and a mother. Two of 
us has gone to the woods on Balaam, our new 
donkey. One of us is making tattin’, or some 
kind of trimming. The mother is cooking 
the dinner. The father, he’s the Dominie 
school-teacher, he — I don’t know where he is. 
Our folks, the} r got a letter, come by a bo}^ 
sent a purpose, and I guess it made ’em mad. 
I don’t know what was in it, but I guess 
’twasn’t nothing nice.” 


The Disturbance 109 

“ Humph ! ” commented the visitor. “ What 
was that box I sat on, or in ? What are you 
doing here all by yourself? Is your father 
rich enough to afford a greenhouse ? ” 

Tommy laughed. “ Why, sir, you can ask 
most as many questions as me, can't you? 
and my father he calls me a ‘ living 'terro- 
gation point.' A 'terrogation point, if you 
don't know, is one them black marks you 
have to put in compositions. I don't write 
compositions yet, I don't. Father says I 
haven’t got enough imagernation. Lu, she has 
to write 'em. She's beginnin' to have to, an' 
them punctuaters bothers her dreadful. She'd 
ruther make trimmin' any day 'n write a 
composition. Do you like to write 'em ? " 

“ No. I do not. That is, I never did like 
it when I was young,” answered the stranger, 
in a manner which seemed quite natural and 
like other people with whom Tommy was fa- 
miliar. “ Go on and talk. Tell all you know. 
I — I like to hear you, while I'm resting.” 

Now Tommy's failing was his too glib 
tongue, and it rarely obtained such license as 
this — an opportunity which he promptly rec- 
ognized as “ golden ” and not to be lost. 


no 


The Heroine of Roseland 


Stretching out his fat little legs on the floor 
where he sat amid the fragments of his clock, 
he thrust his hands in his pockets and re- 
flected. 

“ You asked such a lot I don’t know where 
to begin. I’ll start in on that box. ’Tisn’t 
full of water, like you said, not full. Only 
’bout half. It’s a old ice-box that Mr. Samp- 
son give Jerry to keep his clay in. It hadn’t 
no cover, so’s he couldn’t put butcher-meat in 
it ; and, anyhow, he said ’twasn’t more’n pay 
for the two imerges Jerry made for her front 
mantel piece. The imerges was copied off a 
book, after the pictures. The pictures, they 
didn’t have any clothes on, so brother he 
didn’t put any on the clay ones. Mrs. Samp- 
son did, though. She said she was most 
scanderlized, him givin’ a good ice-box for 
them naked things. I don’t know what 
scanderlized is, but I guess it’s something not 
nice. ’Cause it made Jerome say : 1 Silly 
woman ! Let her wallow in her ignorance, 
then, if she likes.’ But I guess he was ’most 
mad — he never gets quite, Jerry don’t. Gail 
does. She gets mad’s a hatter, and she was 
for startin* right off to get ’em back, only fa- 


The Disturbance 


1 11 

ther wouldn’t let her. Gail thinks there’s no- 
body in the world like Jerome. They’re 
twins, you know.” 

“ Hmm. Yes. So I suppose. That’s a 
big house I see yonder. Your father must 
make a lot of money to live in such a big 
house.” 

“ I don’t know. I guess he does get a lot. 
Jimmy Barlow says it must be much as six 
hunderd dollars. Jimmy Barlow’s father is 
the minister to our church. He’s a nawful 
nice man. Me an’ Jimmy goes together most 
the time. Mr. Barlow, he likes to have us. 
He says Jimmy’s inclined to be ruther wild 
an’ I’m so well brought up. Was you well 
brought up when you was a boy ? ” 

“ I — I don’t know. It’s so long ago I can 
hardly remember.” 

“ Seems real funny, don’t it, to think you 
ever was a little boy like me ? I wouldn’t be- 
lieve it, only father says ’t every man was lit- 
tle once. He says that’s why I must take care 
now an’ not be mean an’ selfish, ’cause I have 
to be when I’m big just the same I am when 
I’m a kid. Funny, ain’t it ? ” 

The old gentleman gave one of his disagree- 


112 The Heroine of Roseland 

able laughs, and remarked in a manner 
equally disagreeable : 

“ Your father must be an extremely wise 
man ! He must have improved.’' 

Even to innocent Tommy, ignorant of irony, 
there seemed something “ not nice ” in the 
words ; as if his adored father had in some 
way been maligned. This was enough to 
rouse his anger, almost as swift to rise as 
Gail’s, and he answered, hotly : 

“ You don’t say that like you meant it. 
But he is. He’s the wisest, knowingest, best 
man in this whole world. There isn’t a single 
thing he doesn’t know. Just you ask him 
and see ! Humph ! Huh ! He knows more’n 
anybody in Millville. More’n the minister. 
More’n the cotton-duck-supe. More’n the 
storekeeper. More’n anybody just except his 
very own self. So there ! ” 

Tommy had wrought himself up to a high 
state of feeling, that amused yet also touched 
the sympathy of his listener ; who, to change 
the subject, inquired : 

“ What are you doing to that clock ? Des- 
troying it? Clocks cost money and money 
isn’t to be wasted.” 


The Disturbance 


“3 


“ This one didn’t cost money. It cost mar- 
bles. Jerry made ’em and gave ’em to me 
and I swopped ’em for the clock. It was 
meant to wake Jimmy up, but Jimmy he 
didn’t want to be waked. The alarm wouldn’t 
go for him but just you hear me make it 
buzz ! ” 

With that the boy prodded the works of 
the timepiece till he set its nerve-racking 
alarm to sounding — not only once but con- 
tinuously, and the stranger clapped his fat 
hands to his ears, vainly attempting to make 
himself heard above the metallic uproar. The 
case appearing hopeless, he leaned forward 
above the boy and snatched the clock out of 
hand, flinging it to the further corner of the 
place, where it fell with a crash and was still. 

“ Oh ! you ! Oh ! you — you ! ” screamed 
Tommy, enraged. Then suddenly stepped 
backward and stared in consternation. The 
old gentleman’s hat had again fallen off and 
the red top of his head was wiggling worse 
than ever, with the wen performing a sort of 
terrifying dance beneath the smooth skin. Or 
so it seemed to Tommy ; who retreated still 
further and begged : “ Oh ! please put it on 


ii4 The Heroine of Roseland 

again. Looks like the when would fall 
off!” 

“ Wish to goodness it would ! It ought 
to have been off, long ago, only I — hadn't the 
courage.” 

The hat restored, so was Tom's composure. 
Besides it had struck his quick ears as strange 
that any grown man should acknowledge his 
own cowardice. Also, there had now come a 
change of expression into the black eyes ; a 
sort of loneliness that impelled the warm- 
hearted child to offer comfort. 

“Say, look a here. Do }'Ou know what? 
When my Jerry gets too much clay on one 
part his imerge he shaves it off and slaps it on 
another place where, maybe, there isn't enough. 
If I was you, that's what I'd do. I'd shave 
off them eyebrows that are so big and thick 
and I bet you'd get enough hair to cover the 
top of your head. I never saw anybody with- 
out any hair at all, not without an}', 'ceptMrs. 
Barlow’s baby and that hasn't come in yet.” 

The queer old gentleman looked as if he 
didn't know whether to scowl or smile. Tom's 
naive advice had been offered in apparent sin- 
cerity, from compassion rather than ridicule ; 


The Disturbance 


115 

so the smile won. Seeing it, the companion- 
able little chap slipped his hand into the 
visitor’s and asked : 

“ Would you like to go round and see the 
things first ? ’Twon’t be time for the circus, 
not till three o’clock. We’ve got to have din- 
ner ’fore, and Jerry and Gail come home. 
My ! hear it rain ! All of a sudden like that ! 
Oh ! say, you help. You’ve got to. Else 
Jerome’s wet imerges ’ll get squashed all 
down. He put ’em under that part the 
roof where the roof ain’t fixed, ’cause there 
wasn’t any other place big enough. He made 
’em out that new clay father brought him from 
away beyond the next village, that he thought 
so much of — it was so fine and hard. Same 
kind was a-soakin’. Oh ! say ! hurry up ! 
You’re tall enough to reach and I’m not. We 
mustn’t let them spoil, we must not. Not 
Jerry’s ! ” 

There was no resisting the child’s earnest- 
ness, and the stranger allowed himself to be 
piloted to the most distant corner of the old 
greenhouse where upon a shelf high up stood 
a collection of “ imerges ” which made him 
open his eyes in amazement, till a dash of 


n6 The Heroine of Roseland 


water blinded them. Then he made a very 
natural movement backward, but was not 
permitted to go far. Tom's strong little hands 
were pulling him back, he was even trying to 
force the man's arms upward to the rescue of 
the precious models. 

Presently, he found that there was no 
further need of force. His own interest im- 
pelled the stranger to preserve those beautiful 
creations from imminent danger. He began 
to take them down, hurriedly but with ex- 
treme carefulness, and to place them in Tom's 
grasp with the injunction : 

“ Take care there, boy ! Don't you drop 
them ! Don’t you drop a single one ! ” 

Tommy needed no urging to “ take care.” 
His admiration of his brother's talent was 
second only to Gail's own ; and he had often 
waited upon the frail young sculptor at his 
work, and been commended as the “ deftest 
boy in the world.” 

In a few moments those pieces which had 
stood close under the leaky roof were de- 
posited in a dry spot beneath the bench which 
ran waist high around the room. The rain 
continued to come down in torrents, but the 


The Disturbance 


117 


stranger was not averse to sitting just where 
he was and gazing in an absorbed silence upon 
the evidences of actual genius which were 
arrayed before hin. 

Half frightened by the storm, although he 
was really a brave child, Tommy curled down 
beside his visitor and remained equally silent. 
Gradually, over the old man's fierce face stole 
an expression of rare tenderness. The “ im- 
erges ” were doing a wonderful work. In- 
deed, they almost ceased to be visible to him ; 
for between him and them rose the vision of 
a boyish face which had once been dearer to 
him than any other face on earth. 

That vision-boy had possessed a gift like 
this. He had wished to exercise it, make it 
his message to the world ; but he had not 
been permitted. Then had followed loneli- 
ness, dreariness, hopelessness. Long years 
dragging out their length till here he was 
an old, old man, with more wealth than he 
could use, but with not one single human 
being to love him as that vision-boy had 
loved — till the fatal break came. 

Presently, he felt a touch upon his knee. 
Tom's curly yellow head had dropped there, 


n8 The Heroine of Roseland 


all unconsciously, and he had fallen asleep. 
It was his habit to lapse off in this way, at 
any convenient season when play had tired 
him, but the stranger did not know that. He 
only knew that there was something inex- 
pressibly sweet in that pressure on his knee, 
and with a patience that none who knew him 
would have believed possible, he sat motion- 
less for a long, long time. 

After a time his muscles stiffened and in 
moving to relieve them he roused the sleep- 
ing lad. Tom lifted a drowsy head, gave one 
scrutinizing glance upward into the red face 
above him, smiled and stood up. Then he 
observed : 

“ Pshaw ! I forgot. You come to the circus 
too early, didn’t you, so I was going to show 
you the animals. They’re all in here. I 
mean them are that don’t live in cages.” 

“A circus? What’s that? I came to no 
circus, but for a far different purpose.” 

“ You did, hey ? Pshaw ! Well it’s raining 
like guns and you can’t go out anyway. So 
you may as well see ’em. They’s a mud tur- 
tle, marked on his shell so he must be a hun- 
derd years old — ‘ if the marks are genuine,’ 


The Disturbance 


n 9 


father says ; ten cats, counting kittens ; five 
white mice ; two squir’ls ; that parrot what 
told you to take your hat off, and more be- 
sides. Folks — some folks — think they per- 
form lovely. The cats jump through rings, 
barrel-staves, part of ’em do. The canary 

rings a bell Oh ! it’s ’most as good as a 

regular one ! Gail trains ’em and folks — 
some folks — think it’s worth as much as a — 
well, say, a nickel, to see ’em. Should you 
think a nickel was too much, now we’ve got 
Balaam and Juniper Tar and I Don’t ? You’re 
so old maybe you might know. Only, I can’t 
think of anybody who’d have the nickel. 
Can you ? ” 

Again to his own amazement and that of all 
who knew him — had they been there to see — 
this curious old gentleman did a thing en- 
tirely foreign to his nature. With a slow 
movement of his hairy hand he felt in one, 
two, three pockets ; withdrew the hand and 
looked into the palm. Twice it came forth 
empty ; was it possible that this “ ogre ” 
winked? Actually winked at Tommy, after 
the third withdrawal ? 

Did the boy catch a gleam of silver in that 


120 


The Heroine of Roseland 


half-opened palm? Who can tell? For, on 
the mere suspicion of such a thing, wide flew 
the door leading into the palm-house, the 
“ ring ” ; and with yelps, barks, and the 
fiercest of growls, out leaped the great 
St. Bernard, and landed with his fore paws 
on the stranger’s shoulders. 

To the dog’s growls echoed a scream of fear. 
The old man staggered backward, tripped and 
fell, with the dogs circling around him, wild 
with delight, while Tommy vainly tried to 
call them off and to calm his guest’s terror. 
Was there not more than a nickel in danger ? 
Even a whole dime ? 

Tommy had seen it with his own two eyes ; 
but it had disappeared. Moreover the man 
on the floor, fighting off the dogs, looked too 
angry ever to replace it by another. He was 
even shaking one fist at poor Tommy while 
he belabored the black- and-tan with the other, 
and declaring in his gruffest, dreadfulest 
voice : 

“ Oh ! I’ll take it out of you, my boy ! I’ll 
take it out of you, setting your dogs on me ! 
Help me up ! I say, help me up ! Call them 


The Disturbance 


121 


off! Oh ! I’ll let you know who I am, don’t 
you fear ! I’ll let you know ! ” 

And thus came Great-uncle Joram to the 
house of his friends. 


CHAPTER VIII 


DISAPPOINTMENTS 

Mr. Joram Graham had always been an 
active man. That morning proved that his 
activity was not a thing of the past. As soon 
as he could scramble to his feet, he caught up 
a stick conveniently near, and wildly thresh- 
ing it about to keep off the dogs, rushed out 
of the greenhouse, regardless of rain or the 
fact that he had left his hat behind him. 

Mrs. Graham was standing before the back 
entry door, peering through its upper sash of 
glass into the storm without and feeling the 
keenest anxiety concerning Jerome and Gail, 
exposed to its sudden fury. Also, she remem- 
bered the little lad busy in the menagerie, but 
was sure he would remain there, safe and dry, 
till the rain ceased. 

Then, all at once, a short but bulky figure 
fairly hurled itself outward from the green- 
house doorway and propelled itself against 
that where she stood. Instinctively, she 
122 


Disappointments 1 23 

opened the door and stood aside to let it enter ; 
then recognized this unknown figure as that 
of an old man, bareheaded, furiously enraged, 
and almost breathless from excitement. 

The stranger halted just beyond the thresh- 
old and announced in loud, angry tones : 

“ My name is Joram Graham. I’m stop- 
ping at the hotel. Tell Philibert to come 
there. I want to see him. Good-morning.” 

The final attempt at courtesy seemed to 
have been wrung from him by mere force of 
habit, or by the astonished silence of the 
house-mistress — too startled to speak. She 
had just recovered from her surprise suffi- 
ciently to open her lips but the visitor did not 
tarry to hear what might come from them. 
With an angry snort, he drew his coat close 
about him and, with head bent against the 
driving rain, bolted from the house. 

Then out from the greenhouse darted, also, 
Tommy, clinging fast to a wide brimmed hat, 
screaming after the retreating gentleman : 

“ Wait. Wait Wait! Your hat! 

your hat ! They couldn’t hurt you, the dogs 
couldn’t, I — couldn’t— only playing — oh ! 
hold on, can’t you?” 


124 


The Heroine of Roseland 


The irate old gentleman must have heard, 
for he suddenly paused on his way to the gate 
and so abruptly that Tommy, running at top 
speed, came plump against him — to the 
child’s own downfall and the fresh affront of 
the other. Probably he would not have 
paused at all save for the absurdity of going 
hatless through the street ; for he clapped the 
broad brim over his drenched head and set off 
again without waiting to learn if Tommy were 
hurt. 

But he wasn’t. A little tumble like that 
belongs in the natural order of a boy’s life and 
he was up like a flash, shaking his small fist 
in the direction whence his morning’s visitor 
had disappeared. 

“ Tommy ! Thomas ! Come right in here 
out of this rain!” called Mrs. Graham from 
her doorway and he hastened to obey. The 
tone of his mother’s voice proved that she had 
not only recovered its use but great vexation 
along with it ; and he had no sooner reached 
her side than she gave him a little maternal 
shake and commanded : “ Now, boy, explain 

what all this means.” 

Tommy wriggled himself free from the hand 


Disappointments 125 

on liis shoulder and wiped his wet face on his 
sleeve. 

“ I don’t know what it does mean. I 
don’t, no more’n Trimmer, there. He — he 

came, that whenny man Oh ! say ! you 

never saw anything to beat ! He’s so funny I 
thought he was a ogre, first off. I for truly 
did. But he wasn’t. He wasn’t nothing but 
plain man ” 

“ He 1 came ’ ? When and how did he 
come ? Why didn’t you run right in and tell 
me ? ” 

“ Why, mother, I — I don’t know. Didn’t 
think, I s’pose. Then I liked him. Then I 
went to sleep and he stayed. When I waked 
up he was there yet. He’d been nice, nicer 
than them ogres is in the books. He’d helped 
me put Jerry’s imerges out the wet. He liked 
’em. He liked ’em first rate. Then I was 
goin’ to show him the animals and I opened 
the door, and he was goin’ to give me ten cents 

— I saw it in his hand, I for truly did ” 

Here the lad came to an exasperating pause ; 
after which he laughed and pranced and 
laughed again till the tears came. 

By this time Luella was on the scene and 


126 The Heroine of Roseland 


provoked at this break in the tale, she caught 
hold of him and brought his amused gyra- 
tions to an end. 

“ Now, you Tommy Graham, you just tell ! 
what you mean, making mother wait till you 
get done giggling and not finish? What 
about that ten cents ? And what is so terrible 
funny, I should like to know ? ” 

Luella usually made herself obeyed and, 
after another outburst of mirth, Tommy 
sobered himself sufficiently to relate all the 
unfortunate happenings in the greenhouse. 
He concluded : 

“ They wouldn’t ha’ hurt him, not a mite. 
They was only foolin’ like dogs will. But he 
don’t like dogs, I guess. I guess he don’t. 
He didn’t act that way, and the more he tried 
to beat ’em off the more they thought he did 
like it and was just playin’, too. The little 
I Don’t was almost worse ’n the big one ; 
he’d get in under and yelp and nibble the 
cutest ever was ! Oh ! they’re smart dogs, all 
right. I just wish you could have seen his 
when ! He can wiggle the top of his head, 
that man can. You can see it plain, ’cause 
there isn’t no hair on the top to hide seeing. 


Disappointments 1 27 

Mother, can you wiggle your top ? Can you, 
Lu ? I tried but I couldn’t, though I’ll learn 
myself how, don’t be afraid ! Can you, 
mother ? ” 

“ No, I cannot, and I forbid you to learn. 
Oh ! Tommy, Tommy, what have you done ? ” 

The greatly tried woman crossed the room 
and sat down by the window to reflect on the 
day’s misfortune. Such it surely appeared to 
her. Any possible benefit to her household 
which might have accrued from Joram Gra- 
ham’s visit was out of the question now. If 
ever she had seen an angry man it was he 
who had bounced into her entry and out again, 
without waiting to explain what had happened 
or why he had come, unannounced, at an un- 
expected hour. 

Leaning her head on her hand, the dis- 
turbed, overtaxed woman brooded over the 
perplexities of her life till, finally, her burdens 
seemed more than she could bear, and with a 
sudden loss of self-control she began to weep. 

Confronted by this unusual spectacle, Luella 
and Tom stared at one another, at their 
mother, through the window at the storm, and 
back again at that bowed head against the 


128 The Heroine of Roseland 


pane. Without in the least understanding 
what they had done wrong, both children felt 
a terrible sense of guilt and with a mutual 
impulse stole softly forward to confess. 

“ Don’t cry, mother, please don’t cry ! I — 
I’ll learn to wash dishes like Gail. I — I’ll 
help feed the chickens, too, if only you won’t 
cry,” begged the little girl, slipping her arm 
about her mother’s shoulder and leaning her 
cheek against it. 

Tom was thus barricaded from her by his 
sister’s plump body, and since he could not 
encircle the house-mistress he hugged Luella, 
promising : 

“ I won’t laugh at old men what comes to 
circuses, I won’t never again. And I’ll fetch 
in the kindlin’ wood every day without being 
told. And — and, mother, don’t you think 
that soup’s a burnin’ ? Smells like it was. 
Don’t let it burn, mother, Tom’s so hungry.” 

Nothing could more promptly have brought 
back Mrs. Graham’s composure. With a 
glance at the clock she hurried to lift the 
kettle from the fire, and remarked : 

“ It’s past dinner time, anyway. Your 
father — nobody knows where he is or when he 


Disappointments 129 

will be in. Gail and Jerry — oh ! I hope they 
got under cover somewhere ! If he gets wet it 
will make him ill. I wish that donkey had 
never been bought. Then he wouldn’t have 
gone out and exposed himself. Come. Make 
yourselves ready and we three will eat — if we 
can ! ” 

For the house-mistress felt as if she could 
not swallow a mouthful. But she could and 
did, almost the usual number of them. Satur- 
day was soup-dinner day with her as with 
Uncle Hiram and both were prime cooks, and 
if she could have known that the absent twins 
were enjoying a similar feast she would have 
been truly rejoiced. As it was, after helping 
the children and herself she set the kettle 
back in the warming oven to keep hot for the 
three absentees. And when they had finished, 
Luella offered : 

“ I can wash the dishes, mother, if you want 
me to. I can do it — if you want me.” 

“No, dearie, you needn’t. Thank you just 
as much. I don’t wish your little hands 
roughened with hot suds, and — I’ve nothing 
else to do. I did intend to make a cake for 
supper but, since we shan’t have company 


130 The Heroine of Roseland 

after all, it’s not worth while. We can’t 
afford cake just for ourselves.” 

Tom’s countenance fell. But he was not as 
one without hope, and in his most wheedling 
manner he observed, as if to the clearing 
weather outside, 

“ He might come back. He might. He 
was a real nice man — some part. He liked 
Jerry’s imerges. He liked ’em real well. If 
he should come back maybe he’d buy some. 
Maybe he’ll come to look for his ten cents. It 
would be too bad, wouldn’t it, if he did come 
back and we asked him to supper and there 
wasn’t any cake ? I think it would be real too 
bad.” 

But Mrs. Graham was not in a coaxing 
mood, and she ignored Tom’s remarks en- 
tirely. Her dinner had made her physically 
comfortable and she set about clearing up with 
her ordinary spirit. She must go up-stairs, 
take off the precious linen sheets — not to be 
slept in b}' ordinary mortals — and restore her 
bedroom to its normal condition. 

“ If I’d known how things would turn out, 
I needn’t have had my trouble for my pains. 
All my clothes taken out the closet to make 


Disappointments 131 

room for his, and he never so much as think- 
ing of coming, I believe. Well, the windows 
got a good wash, anyway, though I suppose 
the rain has spattered the outsides again. 
Don’t knit too steady on your lace, Luella. 
The sun’s commencing to shine and you bet- 
ter go out and help Tom get ready for your 
circus, if you’re going to have one. For my 
part I wish there’d never been such a thing 
heard of, then this new trouble wouldn’t have 
happened.” 

“ But, mother, it wasn’t the circus,” cor- 
rected the precise Luella ; “it was only the 
dogs, and they haven’t exhibited at all yet. 
They’ve only just come — hateful things ! ” 

“ It’s all the same thing,” responded the 
lady, from the top of the stairs, whence she 
disappeared into her own big bed-chamber. 

Tom had already vanished to the green- 
house. The sun had come out, the sky was 
swiftly clearing, and the air was delightfully 
fresh and sweet. He sang as he skipped 
across the grass, cherishing a hope that, after 
all, that enticing dime which he had seen in 
his great-uncle’s palm might not have wholly 
disappeared. .He would search for it every- 


132 The Heroine of Roseland 

where, and if he found it — what then ? It 
wasn’t pleasant to have a fellow’s thoughts 
fetched up that sharp by such a question. He 
wished — he wished 

“ Hello, Lu ! What you after here? ” 

“ Come to help get the things ready for the 
show. Gail ought to be here to do it herself, 
but she never comes when she’s wanted. Be- 
sides, I was tired crocheting, anyway, and 
’twas lonesome in there by myself. How do 
you know that old man meant to give you 
that ten cents ? ” 

“ Huh ! You after ’em, too ? Well, I don’t 
know. I just guessed, maybe. Say, Lu ! If 
I found it, if we find it, do you s’pose we’ll 
have to give it back ? ” 

It was a puzzling question. Luella evaded 
it by another : 

“ How could we give it back if he isn’t 
here, and we don’t know where to find 
him ? ” 

“ Plague take it ! We do know. That’s 
the "worst of it. He told mother he’d be at 
the 1 hotel ’ and she says that’s the tavern. 
Well, let’s look, anyway.” 

The search was keen and long continued, 


Disappointments 133 

but at last rewarded. In a tiny crack where 
less sharp eyes could not have discovered it, 
lay the coveted coin. Tom found it where it 
had flown from its owner’s hand at the 
onslaught of the dogs, and, sitting down by 
Lu, they planned the many delightful things 
which might be done with it. Regret grew 
with the planning, and, in Luella’s case, 
temptation, also. 

“ Mother said he was awful rich. Awful. 
I don’t suppose he knows how many ten 
centses he has got. He wouldn’t miss this 
one. He wouldn’t know he’d lost it, nor re- 
member. 1 Findings are keepings.’ We 
always play that way at school. It’s fair.” 

Now, all these arguments had been in Tom- 
my’s own mind ; yet how different one’s 
secret sins appear when they are put into 
plain, cold words ! Luella had voiced the 
boy’s desires and showed him how wrong 
they were. Rising, he tied the tempting bit 
of silver in the corner of his rather dirty 
handkerchief — in itself but a scrap of cotton 
cloth hemmed round, as economy compelled 
— and thrust the handkerchief into the very 
depths of his hindmost pocket. There it 


>34 


The Heroine of Roseland 


should stay till Fate willed otherwise. Then 
he looked at his sister with grieved reproach. 

“ Well, Luella Graham, I thought you was 
a honest girl. Huh ! wantin’ to keep things 
what don’t belong. I guess not. That 
dime’s the whenny old man’s, and will be 

give back to him at the first — the first 

What is that big word would fit in there? ” 

“ Op-opportu-tunation, I reckon, if you 
mean the first chance. And I wasn’t no 
meaner than you w T ere. I only said what 
you thought.” 

“ Well, never mind,” he rejoined, with fine 
disdain. “ It’s time to fix up, and hurry, too.” 

They went to work with a will. Empty 
rings, which had once been covered with 
paper, were brought forth and hung on the 
nail in a post supporting the palm-house roof. 
A tall box on which Polly-cracker’s cage 
should stand, while she went through her 
limited vocabulary for the benefit of the audi- 
ence, was set in the middle of the “ ring,” and 
the parrot placed upon it. The white mice, 
the squirrels and the canary, in their respect- 
ive cages, were put where they belonged, and 
Gail’s uniform of a red flannel jacket, cap, and 


Disappointments 135 

whip — domestic manufacture — were hung 
ready for her use, with all the odds and ends 
of boxes which furnished the seats for the 
company, duly ranged about the ring. Then 
they went back to the other room and calling 
the dogs, whom Tom had with uncommon 
thoughtfulness locked in, they put these 
through their trick, to the music of Luella’s 
jew’s-harp. 

She was the star-performer of their “ orches- 
tra ” or “ band,” though Tom could make 
more noise upon his toy drum. Jimmy Bar- 
low was, also, a member of this famous band, 
performing upon a mouth-organ or a battered 
violin, as seemed desirable, and upon condi- 
tion of free admittance to the show of which 
he was so important a part. Gail could whis- 
tle beautifully and sing like a bird, and some 
thought she made the sweetest music of them 
all. Jerry was orchestra leader, and waved a 
beautifully polished birch rod as a baton. 
Altogether, it was a very finished and satis- 
factory company, and, as a rule, the audience 
filled every seat, so that sometimes, even, there 
had to be a card hung outside the entrance, 
marked: “Standing Room Only.” 


136 The Heroine of Roseland 


“ I guess there’ll be a big crowd to-day,’’ 
said Luella. “ Account of the new things. I 
guess Delly Sampson will come, maybe, and if 
he does he’ll likely pay real money, three, 
four, perhaps five, cents. His folks give him 
a lot of spending money. I wish ours did. 
I wish I had — if I had ten cents, about ten 
cents, I’d buy me some that finest thread 
and tat a whole collar for my school cloak.” 

Tom was a generous boy, always ready to 
part with his possessions to any member of 
his family who desired them, but he was 
adamant to this insinuation. Clapping his 
hand to his rear, the better to stop the open- 
ing to his cash-burdened pocket, he pointed 
the other forward, exclaiming : 

“Just you look a-there ! Hurray! Hur- 
ray ! Hur-r-ray ! ” 


CHAPTER IX 


A STAR PERFORMANCE 

Luella hastened to look, as she was bidden, 
and clapped her own hands in delight. Down 
over the hillside beyond the brook which bor- 
dered their garden were coming Jerry, on his 
burro, Gail with her arms full of pink-tipped 
branches and her basket heaped with flowers, 
and the jolly old sawyer. 

Most welcome of all their friends was he ; 
not only because he had the biggest, most de- 
lectable of pockets inserted everywhere in his 
clothes and each holding all sorts of things 
that young folks like, but because he was, as 
Jerry said, the “ very biggest boy ” of them 
all. The most light hearted, the easiest 
pleased, the readiest to laugh, of anybody in 
the world. 

“ Oh ! Uncle Hi ! Uncle Hi's coming to 
the circus ! Now we will have fun ! ” cried 
Tom, and sped away to meet and greet the 
party. Luella went only as far as the bridge 
i37 


13S The Heroine of Roseland 


over the brook for beyond that the grass was 
wet and she hated to dampen her shoes. But 
her face was more free from its habitual frown 
than ordinary, and it was with real affection 
she held it up to receive the old sawyer’s kiss. 

“ Bless my soul and body ! I didn’t know 
the buttercups was a-blow so early ! ” he cried, 
touching her golden curls with the tip of one 
work-hardened finger. “ Pinks, too ! Well, 
I declare ! Roseland’s the place for posies, 
now ain’t it?” as he planted a sounding kiss 
on her rosy cheek. “ Buttercups and pinks 
and blue-eyed grass, all planted by the good 
Gardener in one little spot ! Pshaw ! It’s 
enough to set a man singing the Doxology ! 
Let’s try it and see how it sounds in this 
beauty spot ! ” 

Instantly he began it and almost as instantly 
their four young voices joined in. There 
seemed nothing unusual in this, and nothing 
out of keeping with the time and place. Into 
his deep bass tones Uncle Hiram did, indeed, 
put more than common “ praise.” His young 
friends thought that he had come merely to see 
the dogs and enjoy their circus, but, in reality, 
he had not dared let Gail make the homew r ard 


A Star Performance 139 

trip alone with her brother, and he was a 
thankful man that the lad had reached Rose- 
land without another lapse of strength. To 
his own household Jerome’s gradual decline 
was scarcely perceptible, and the younger 
members observed it not at all. But to his 
old friend after intervals of absence it was all 
too painfully evident. However, not his the 
part to warn and frighten anybody. He left 
that, as he left everything, to a greater 
Wisdom than his own ; while his share for 
the time remaining was to fill all these young 
hearts so full of happiness that they should 
have no room left for foreboding. So that 
day he had put aside his own “ Saturday 
afternoon jobs,” his weekly scrubbing and 
furbishing of his home and person, and given 
the hours to them. 

Arrived at the door of the greenhouse he 
lifted Jerry from the saddle, jokingly ob- 
serving : 

“ Want to see if you’re as hefty as that birch 
sapling I cut down yesterday ! How hefty 
are the lot of you ? ” 

Ignoring the swift look of understanding 
which was in Jerry’s eyes he proceeded also to 


no The Heroine of Roseland 

lift and swing high first Tom, then a trifle 
less high the plump Luella, and finally with a 
prodigious effort — absurdly exaggerated — the 
laughing elder girl. 

“ Whew ! Miss Abigail ! you’re a weighty 
contract ! You’d make good sized planks if 
you was sawed lengthwise ! ” 

This was received with such uproarious 
laughter by everybody that Mrs. Graham 
heard it from her upper room and came out 
to inquire its cause. Then followed rapid 
explanations on both sides, earnest assurances 
from Jerry that he had not taken cold and 
did not wish to go to bed and be dosed with 
hot sage tea, and the serio-comic inquiry from 
Uncle Hiram if she thought he was too old to 
go to a circus. 

“ Not in the least. I’ve half a mind to go 
myself,” she returned, with unusual mirth- 
fulness. After all, though he might be of- 
fended, Uncle Joram’s rejection of her hospi- 
tality saved her a lot of work and trouble. 
As in courtesy bound he had written her ap- 
prising her, the hostess, of his intended visit, 
and she had made ready for him. So ready 
that there was nothing left to do and for once 


A Star Performance 141 

she was tempted to idle for a space and be 
happy with her children. 

“ Make it a whole mind, ma’am, and allow 
me the pleasure,” said the gallant old sawyer, 
bowing and offering his arm. 

“ Thank you. The pleasure is mine,” she 
returned, with the same affected and mis- 
chievous stateliness. Whereupon Tom ex- 
ecuted his most hilarious somersault and even 
paused in the midst of it to stand on his head, 
till Luella screamed : 

“ Don’t ! don’t ! you’ll burst all your blood 
vessels and — and make a dreadful muss ! ” 

Amid a fresh outburst of laughter at this 
remark they all moved toward the greenhouse, 
whither another company of childish patrons 
was proceeding from the gateway to the street. 
But the home party was first at the entrance 
and Gail slipped quickly within, to half-close 
it and prevent the town children entering 
without depositing the usual fee. Of course, 
this action also shut out her mother and es- 
cort, but he seemed to consider it all right ; 
for he paused, thrust his hand into one of his 
many pockets, and demanded : 

“ What’s the taxes ? ” 


142 


The Heroine of Roseland 


“ The — what ? ” asked the doorkeeper. 

“ The taxes. The ticket. The price of 
admission,” he answered, with complete 
gravity. 

“ Why, Uncle Hiram Smith ! The idea ! 
A price from you, for you and mother? How 
perfectly ridiculous ! Walk right in, and Tom, 
show them the two sound seats,” returned 
Gail, setting as wide as she could the door 
which dragged so on its lower hinge. 

“ Well, I should say it was ridic’lous ! Did 
}mu ever hear of a young man takin’ a lady 
to an entertainment and not pay the fines? 
Tommy, don’t you ever let me catch you doing 
that when you grow up, or YU disown you. 
Morever, you ought to be man enough already 
to know that business is business. What’s the 
taxes ?*’ 

There was money in the sawyer’s hand, 
more than there had been in Mr. Joram Gra- 
ham’s, and Tommy answered before he could 
be prevented : 

“ Would five — five centses be too much ? ” 

“ Thomas Graham ! you dreadful boy ! ” 
cried Gail, while her mother looked sincerely 
distressed, and as if her joining in the chil- 


A Star Performance 143 

dren’s “ fun ” was ending differently from her 
desire. 

Not so Uncle Hiram. It was his habit to 
carry most of his pocket money in small 
change. He found it more convenient on just 
such occasions as this for, though his nature 
compelled to give often he was not rich enough 
to give largely. With the same serious de- 
meanor he began to count, picking up a nickel 
with each count : 

“ Five times one is five — that’s the lady on 
my arm. Five times two is ten — that fetches 
me in. Five times three is fifteen — hello, 
Jerry ! pass on ! Five times four is twenty — 
step lively, Miss Luella. Five times five is 
twenty-five — hurry up there, Thomas ! Five 
times six is thirty — and for you, Miss Door- 
keeper ! Now, admit.” 

Gail’s cheek flushed with shame, she felt 
that this was what her small brother called 
“ scanderlous,” but a glance toward her twin 
whose judgment always influenced her own 
showed that he saw nothing amiss in her ac- 
cepting these “ exorbitant ” fees. On the con- 
trary he understood how pleased the old saw- 
yer was to bestow this trifle of spending money 


l 44 


The Heroine of Roseland 


under cover of the statement that they had 
earned it. Besides, there was already a 
throng of young folks at the door, the hour 
for the performance to begin was past, and 
Gail was too honest to promise anything and 
not keep her word. The paper tickets she 
issued always bore the words : “ Three 

o’clock, sharp ! ” 

Five minutes later the show was in full 
swing ; and it did seem as if the animals en- 
gaged in it realized the importance of their 
position and did their very best. Nothing 
could exceed the dignified gravity of Juniper 
Tar’s countenance as, to the snap of Gail’s 
whip, he circled around and around, reversing 
the operation only when a signal from the 
same whip commanded him to do so. This 
was really astonishing, for he was so recent a 
member of the troupe that there had been no 
chance for actual training, and the young 
ringmaster’s face glowed with pride. Little I 
Don’t clung his tightest and slipped from his 
comrade’s bushy tail not more than two or 
three times, and gave a sharp yelp of delight 
when replaced in position. 

Polly-cracker grew wildly excited by the 



THE CIRCUS 




A Star Performance 145 

uncommon assembly, and shrieked to each 
and all concerned to : “ Take off your hat f 
Wicked cr-r-eat-ure ! ” The canary had 
never been so hungry nor tinkled his bell so 
vigorously ; the white mice whirled around 
and around in the wheel within their cage ; 
the squirrels sat up and ate nuts to repletion, 
using their dainty little paws and coquetting 
with their bright eyes in almost human fash- 
ion. Even Sir Laggard, the venerable mud 
turtle, for once made his ungainly way across 
the floor without being prodded thereto by his 
owners. 

But when the cats’ turn came, and Mrs. 
Tabb led her mates sedately and gracefully 
through barrel-hoop after barrel-hoop, moved 
continually from place to place so that her 
leaps were rendered almost indefinite, Uncle 
Hiram’s delight knew no bounds. He laughed 
and laughed till tears stood in his eyes, till 
Mrs. Graham joined in, and every youngster 
echoed him ; though to them the trick was 
not so new as to him. 

“ Well, well, well ! If that don’t beat the 
Dutch ! And did you see those silly kittens ? 
Where their ma went there they must follow 


146 The Heroine of Roseland 


— but stoppin’ to play by the road as kitties 
and tackers will ! Well, I declare if this ain’t 
the very finest show I’ve been to in a dog’s 
age. And I say thanks is due — the thanks of 
this whole company is due to the young lady, 
and her helpers, that has given us the pleas- 
ure. For Miss Abigail Graham, ringmaster 
and all-around-young-lady, three cheers and 
a tiger ! All in favor, join in ! Hip, hip, 
hip — hurray ! ” 

If the ricketty roof of the old greenhouse 
didn’t fall that time it was because the 
shingles which held the broken glass in place 
had been so tightly nailed by the hand of the 
schoolmaster himself, who came just in time 
to join the cheers and to welcome the sawyer 
to Roseland. 

But his coming broke up the entertainment 
which had, indeed, been given to its last fea- 
ture, though as formerly it might have re- 
sponded to an encore. However, there was 
that in the Dominie’s expression which Gail’s 
loving eye interpreted to mean some fresh 
trouble ; and it was well that so joyous a cli- 
max should finish the afternoon’s sport. 

Taking Jerry with them to the house the 


A Star Performance 147 

grown people departed, and by twos and 
threes the reluctant younger audience drifted 
away. There had never, never, been so suc- 
cessful a “ circus ” since its inception and all 
were loath to leave the fascinating spot — 
little dreaming, any of them, that it was the 
last performance ever to be given there. 

Finally they were all gone, save Gail and 
Tommy, Luella having followed her elders 
and considering that she had done her full 
part already. Besides, if she were permitted, 
there would still be time to run to the store 
and buy that spool of fine cotton she coveted 
and which Uncle Hiram’s nickel would pay 
for. She had stopped long enough to obtain 
the coin from her sister, who did not offer to 
supplement it by her own piece, as Lu quite 
expected she would ; so, after all, it was with 
a sense of affront that the little girl regarded 
the sum, so much greater than she had ex- 
pected but not so great as she desired. 

“ If I was a big girl and couldn’t make any 
sort of trimming, and I had a little sister who 
could, and who hadn’t all the money she 
ought to have to get her material, do you 
s’pose I wouldn’t give it to her? Hmm. In- 


148 The Heroine of Roseland 

deedy ! Well, I guess I would ! ” ran the 
Trimmer’s thoughts. But it is more than 
probable that had the cases been reversed she 
would have been far stingier than Gail was 
proving. 

When only Tom was left to help her restore 
its accustomed order to the greenhouse Gail 
called him to her, and said : 

“ Laddie ! If this show is going to be a reg- 
ular pay affair, as it begins to seem, we ought 
to have a treasurer. I don’t know anybody 
who can take better care of money than you 
can, and on behalf of the entire ‘ management,’ 
as represented by myself, I appoint you to the 
office. Master Thomas Jefferson Graham, I 
knight you Treasurer in Chief to The Great- 
est Show in Millville ! Rise up, Sir Knight, 
and receive the coffers ! ” 

As she touched his shoulder with her whip, 
Tommy rose from the ground where he had 
just dropped in pursuit of a stray marble, and 
fairly gaped his amazement. 

“ Hold out your hand, sir ! ” she ordered 
and slowly, impressively counted into it the 
five nickels left from Uncle Hiram’s bestowal 


A Star Performance 


149 


and the one which Adelbert Sampson had paid. 
“ Thirty cents. See to it that they become no 
fewer. Indeed, you’re such a fine * trader ’ I 
give you leave to invest and reinvest it, till 
you have doubled your money. But — see to 
it that it becomes no less ! ” 

With a mock magnificent air she waved her 
whip, once more touched it to his shoulder, 
stooped and kissed him, and was gone. 

Small Thomas was profoundly moved. He 
was not accustomed to be appointed to posi- 
tions of trust, never having shown traits to 
make him liable to them. For a long time — 
that is, a long time for his restless self — he 
stood regarding the money in his hand ; then 
he exclaimed : 

“ Ain’t that the queerest? If it had been 
Jerry, now, or even maybe Lu — but I guess 
Lu wouldn’t have give it back — but me ! just 
me! Well, sir! If anybody gets this circus 
money away from me, for nothin’, for less’n 
double what His, he’ll have to be awful smart. 
Smarter’n Jimmy Barlow. Smarter’n Delly 
Sampson. Smarter’n most anybody. And 
where’ll I put it, over Sunday ? Can’t do no 


150 The Heroine of Roseland 

sort of tradin' a-Sunday. 'Twouldn't be right. 
Jimmy an’ me’s never let. Sunday's only for 
Sunday-school an' chicken dinner with a pie 
to it, an’ keepin' dreadful still, so's father can 
get his nap, and books and things. But goody ! 
If I can't do no tradin’ and doublin' up 
a-Sunday, can’t nobody hinder me thinkin' 
out what I'll trade on come a Monday ! And, 
say. I guess I’ll put that there ten cents of 
that man's right with these nickels. That 
ain’t sayin’ I’m counting it in with them, 
'cause I ain't. No, siree, Polly-cracker ; and 
you needn't call me a wicked creature, ’cause 
I ain't. I'm a real good little boy that's 
just been trusted to be a ‘ treasurer.' So you 
quit your hollerin', and let me be." 

Then he looked up and there through the 
glass side of the room peered the snapping 
eyes of his morning's visitor. 

For an instant the appartion startled him, 
coming so unexpectedly upon the very heels 
of his thought that the stranger's dime would 
make such a fine addition to his treas- 
ury. Almost he felt that his very soul had 
been laid naked to the “ ogre's " inner vision 
and he accused of dishonesty. Then he 


A Star Performance 


151 

plucked up courage, and thrusting forth his fat, 
nickel-laden palm, shouted : 

“ Hello, there, you ! Have you come back 
for your money ? Well, here it is. I found 
it.” 


CHAPTER X 


AT THE CLOSE OF THE DAY 

The schoolmaster pushed aside the plate of 
hot soup which his wife set before him, saying 
that he was not hungry, and moved away 
from the table where he had mechanically 
taken his seat. 

“ Not hungry, Philibert, and so long past 
dinner time ? Besides you ate so little break- 
fast — I should think you’d be about starved,” 
expostulated Mrs. Graham, dismayed by his 
worried bearing. 

“ Well, if he ain’t, I am, ma’am. I don’t 
count it anything ’t I had my dinner before, 
and a soup one, too, ’cause an old man’s 
cooking can’t come up to a woman’s, anyway. 
I’ve a notion to taste a mouthful of that savory 
stuff, if you’ve got it to spare, ma’am,” said the 
sawyer, leaving the chair by the window 
where he had sat down and taking his own 
place at the table. 

There was less hunger than craftiness in 
this design. He was sure that if he partook 
I 5 2 


At the Close of the Day 153 

of the refreshment the schoolmaster would 
be apt to follow his example, for it would be 
a poor sort of host who would allow his guest 
to eat alone ; and it was one of his maxims 
that “ things don’t seem half so dismal when 
looked at over a full stomach as over an 
empty one.” Quite as plainly as the house- 
mistress he perceived that the Dominie was, 
indeed, in trouble. 

His action produced the expected result. 
As Uncle Hiram rather noisily and ostenta- 
tiously sucked in his soup, Mr. Graham sat 
forward and drew his own plate again before 
him, lifted his spoon and began to eat. Pres- 
ently, his listlessness disappeared and the con- 
tents of the dish with it, and again absently 
following his friend’s example he rose and 
taking a place beside the open window let the 
soft air blow over his heavy head. 

Then Uncle Hiram leaned forward, laid his 
hand on the other’s knee and commanded : 

“Now, man, out with it! If that prime 
fodder of your good wife’s won’t drive the 
megrims out of you it’s because they’re 
deeper’n food’ll reach. I’ll have to be jog- 
ging up-hill soon else my pretty Alderney 


154 


The Heroine of Roseland 


will think I’ve run away and got married, 
and it’s more’n likely I can say a word will be 
of use. Two heads can’t squint at anything 
from the same p’int of view, and different 
p’ints often discovers different blessings.” 

“ Hmm. I’m afraid that no point will show 
any blessing in this thing I have to face. I’ve 
been to ‘ board meeting,’ this morning. I have 
lost my school. Our living has been taken 
away from us.” 

The news was so terrible that he could not 
disguise nor soften it in the least. Though 
rumor had been current for some time he had 
not mentioned to his wife the possibility of 
the catastrophe which had befallen. Even at 
the worst he had hoped to retain his position 
until the autumn, and this he might have 
legally done. The spring vacation of a week’s 
length would begin on Monday, and after that 
would follow the summer term. He could 
have retained his work and his salary until 
the close of that if he had chosen, but he did 
not choose. His successor was to be associated 
with him, to get “ his bearings,” so to speak, 
and this was more than the proud, sensitive 
Dominie could endure. 


At the Close of the Day 155 

“ But, bless my soul ! The 1 board ’ can’t 
turn you out without due notice ! ” cried the 
sawyer, aghast to find the rumors he had also 
heard so promptly verified. 

“Oh! they were just enough, in a sense, 
those men. I could have kept the school till 
the end of the year, if I had wished. But — 
how could I? How bear to see all the young 
faces I’ve loved turned from me toward a 
stranger? How endure to have my methods 
— God knows I’ve tried to keep them up-to- 
date ! — to have them set aside as obsolete by 
this inexperienced sophomore ? No. Dis- 
missal is bitter to bear, but under such cir- 
cumstances to remain would have been 
torture.” 

Some people called the old sawyer a senti- 
mental man, because he could always discover 
some hidden meaning in every incident of 
life. But his sentimentality did not lie along 
this line. To his practical sense it seemed 
sheer foolishness to throw away this assured 
livelihood of the summer term for a whim, 
a “ feeling.” Nor was he one to withhold his 
opinion when its expression might do good. 

“ Well, Philibert Graham, you may be pretty 


156 The Heroine of Roseland 


well book-learned but you’re a selfish ‘ Simple 
Simon,’ all the same. What right have you 
to take away the bread and butter from your 
children’s mouths just for pride’s sake?” he 
demanded. 

The schoolmaster did not resent the speech. 
It hurt, but minor hurts did not count now 
in the stress of the greater one, and he an- 
swered gently : 

“ Dear Uncle Hi, you mean well but you 
don’t understand. It doesn’t matter anyway. 
It’s a question of a few weeks, only, at the 
best — or the worst.” 

Gail had “ understood,” instantly, and she 
was at her father’s side, her arms about his 
shoulders, and her cheek pressed close against 
his hair. Though it seemed to her as if the 
whole fabric of their lives had suddenly col- 
lapsed she rallied to his aid, exclaiming : 

“You did just exactly right, father. The 
idea of forcing yourself to stay on where you 

were no longer wanted Oh ! how can 

that be true? Don’t you fret. Something 
new and better will surely come. God won’t 
let such a splendid man as you are suffer with- 
out helping him. Don’t you believe it.” 


At the Close of the Day 157 

There was a murmur from the sawyer’s lips 
to the effect that : “ God helps those who help 
themselves,” but it was not unkindly meant. 
Indeed, his friend, the Dominie, might be un- 
wise as he had declared, but the friend’s grief 
was his grief. He glanced out of the window 
and saw that the day was waning, and his 
stay must be brief. Before it ended he must 
find the right word of cheer to utter, for he 
could not leave this household to such anxiety 
over the quiet Sunday to follow, without some 
new hope for the future. At last he fancied 
he had found it, and rose, saying : 

“ I’m going up to the post-office, ’fore I 
climb t’other hill home. Seems if Millville is 
all 1 up hill, down dale,’ but it’s a likely, lively 
township, all the same, and there’s some de- 
cent folks left in it. I’m goin’ to see one 
the decentest, about some lumber he’s want- 
ing, and he’s the cotton-duck-supe. He has 
the hirin’ of more men than anybody else 
in the whole factory limits, and what he says 
goes. He’s always liked you, Dominie, and 
his word’s worth more than that of the whole 
school board put together. He owns the most 
of ’em, so to speak, and I’m going to get to 


158 The Heroine of Roseland 


the rights of this thing, ’fore I sleep. Good-bye, 
neighbor. Put your best foot forward and 
follow it up lively with the worst one, and 
keep ahead of trouble. That’s my rule. 
When I see trouble a-chasin’ of me, I * cut and 
run.’ Turn my back on it — never give it a 
chance to catch up, and generally find I’m 
longer winded than it is, so it sort 6f flops 
down and fades out of sight. There never’s been 
a to-day yet that didn’t have its to-morrow. 
You aren’t bed-rid, nor a fool — so what’s the 
use bein’ downcast ? Make my respects to the 
madam — I see she’s slipped away — and ask 
her to feed you another dish of that fine soup 
in an hour or so. Nothin’ like good victuals 
to put courage into a man. Good-bye, Jerry. 
Good-bye, Luelly. Don’t trim yourself into a 
peacock ! Abigail, remember I’m your right 
hand man, case of need, and — good-bye, all.” 

With the cheeriest of smiles, which to Gail 
seemed almost heartless, under the circum- 
stances, the sawyer strode down the path to 
the gateway, where he turned to wave 
another gay farewell ere he passed out of 
sight. But the girl had no heart to return 
the salutation, and would have been highly 


At the Close of the Day 159 

indignant could she have overheard his re- 
mark to himself : 

“ I ’low I’m disap’inted in Philibert. 
What’s a man born for but to bear burdens, 
an’ bear ’em erect, head up, shoulders square? 
But, pshaw ! Can’t help lovin’ him to save 
my life, yet he’s got no more backbone’n a 
jelly-fish. Pshaw ! ” 

“ I think Uncle Hi is real unfeeling. It 
isn’t his trouble, so he can afford to be cheer- 
ful. I’m disappointed in him,” said Gail, 
with some bitterness. 

“ No, no, girlie. Don’t misjudge. He does 
sympathize. He feels our trouble almost as 
if it were his own. We’re different, that’s 
all. And judged by his standards — even by 
my own, I’m — a failure ! ” 

To hear her father blame himself was the 
worst, the most unjust of all ; and surely this 
must be only a passing difficulty. They had 
been so happy, so gay, even mother with 
them, and such a bit of a while ago ! Gloomy 
things could not be true. When he rose, say- 
ing : 

“ I’ll go into the study and begin to sort 
my papers,” she stepped aside, answering only ; 


160 The Heroine of Roseland 


“ And I’ll just wash these few dishes for 
mother, then go out and put the menagerie to 
bed. I guess she’s gone up-stairs to sort the 
clean clothes for Sunday morning. If you 
need me, father dear, if I can help you at all, 
please call me. Oh ! I wish you could have 
seen how beautifully the pet beasties did per- 
form, to-day ! Who knows ? If school-teach- 
ing fails, this family may yet make itself 
famous in the show business. I’ve always 
longed to travel around in a wagon and live 
like gipsies, and we’ve the ‘ troupe ’ all ready 
to hand. Hurray ! Hear this ? ‘ The Glori- 

ous, Gigantic Graham Gathering and Galaxy of 
Game ! Give a Quarter and Get a Glimpse ! 
Families, One Dollar. One Performance 
Equals a Liberal Education ! ’ Couldn’t I get 
up a handbill to attract ? And we may come 
to it, yet. We may ! ” 

Carrying the soiled dishes into the little 
back sink-room, she merrily rattled them 
through the dishpan, more to her father’s 
approval than her mother’s, could that care- 
ful person have heard ; for he knew she was 
only trying to cheer him, while Mrs. Graham 
would have foreboded nicked edges and called 


At the Close of the Day 161 

for caution. However, that task was soon 
over, and the schoolmaster, having closed his 
study door behind him, Gail felt herself shut 
out from any further offers of help in his 
paper sorting, so betook herself to the green- 
house, and the duties to dependent living 
creatures. To a moiety she knew just the suf- 
ficient supper allowance of each animal, and 
“ to make it go further,” was busy cutting 
the dogs’ meat into small bits when the sound 
of voices behind the palm-room made her 
stop to listen. 

“ Why, I thought everybody had gone home 
long ago! Juniper Tar, who’s Tommy talk- 
ing to ? ” 

The big dog was more intent upon her 
operations for his supper than outside voices 
and answered by a short, sharp bark. This 
set little I Don’t into a shivering, quiver- 
ing, whimpering fit — his own method of an- 
nouncing that he was nearly starved. 

At sound of her own speaking the conver- 
sation outside ceased, but presently Tommy 
rushed in, his face aglow, and his manner full 
of excitement ; 

“ Oh, Gail, you here ? Where’s Jerry at? ” 


162 The Heroine of Roseland 


“I don’t think he’s ‘ at ’ any where. He’s 
lying on the lounge in the living-room. He 
was asleep I think. Don’t go in and wake 
him. He is pretty tired, I guess. He’s not 
used to riding, you know, and he got caught 
in that shower. Don’t, Tommy, please ! ” 

The boy would have made off at the end of 
her first sentence had she not firmly grasped his 
blouse and prevented. Ordinary household 
noises, like dishwashing and home-talk, not 
personally addressed, did not disturb Jerome. 
He would doze off in his unexpected way at 
any and all times when his body was prone 
on lounge or hammock and wake up after a 
few moments greatly refreshed. He needed 
this refreshment now and it was odd that Tom 
did not forego his own desire at once. But 
he insisted : 

“ I must, Gail, I must ! They’s a man out 
there — the whenny man — the Uncle Joram 

man — that says Oh ! cracky ! What you 

s’pose? ’T he’ll buy, pay money for, real 
money, for one them i merges of Jerry’s. 
True’s you live. He did say so. He’s waitin’ 
now. He’s looked ’em all over an’ he likes 
that little farm boy best. The one Jerry did 


At the Close of the Day 163 

after me an’ a picture. Think of that! I 
took a chair outdoors for him to set on an’ 
he’s a settin’. He don’t like dogs so he didn’t 
stay inside long. He lost a ten cents when he 
was here before an’ I thought he’d come back 
after it. Pooh ! He hadn’t. He didn’t ’pear 
to mind that ten cents more’n I mind — a 
chicken feather. He told me to keep it an’ I 
told him I was the new treasurer to the show 
an’ I’d put it with the rest the coffers. He 
laughed some. I thought he was a ogre 
first ” 

Master Tom had the gift of saying a great 
deal in a very short time and this long speech 
had been uttered so rapidly that his sister 
had but half comprehended its meaning. 
When she said so he frowned and com- 
plained : 

“ Well, I can’t tell it all over again. What 
it is — Jerry’s got a chance to sell one his 
imerges an’ you’re mean not to let him know 
it. I won’t be mean to Jerry even if you are, 
so there ! ” 

With that the lad broke away from her 
grasp and darted house-ward, while she hastily 
tossed the dogs’ food to them and ran around 


164 The Heroine of Roseland 

to the outside of the palm-house ; and now, 
fully as interested as her little brother in the 
good fortune coming to her precious twin, she 
bowed to the stranger and bade him a polite 
good afternoon. 

He raised his hand as if to doff his hat but 
it was already lying on his knee, and without 
a word he lifted his gaze from the ground and 
fixed it on the girl’s face. She repeated her 
greeting, adding the question : 

“ Are you, sir, as Tommy says, my father’s 
Uncle Joram ? ” 

He nodded gravely, repeating her own 
words : 

“ Your father’s Uncle Joram. How like 
you are ! ” 

“ Why, have you seen father yet? I didn’t 
know ; and — and I suppose I may be like him 
though nobody ever said so before. Mother 
thinks there’s a family resemblance yet calls 
it slight. Won’t you come in the house? 
Father’s at home now and mother has been 
expecting you all day.” 

“ I’ve met her. The woman you call 
4 mother.’ I’d rather not come in, yet. I 
want to see your brother, the boy who did 


At the Close of the Day 165 

these wonderful bits of modeling. Afterward, 
I’ll have a little talk, maybe — maybe — with 
the man you call your father, with Philibert 
Graham, my nephew.” 

Poor Gail was mystified ; then decided that 
the old man before her was either in his dotage 
or insane. Yet he looked neither. His eye 
was dark and keen but perfectly calm and his 
manner was composed. Only his words were 
peculiar and the girl promptly decided that 
his manner of speaking was different from 
most people’s yet betokened no insanity. 
Indeed, she had scant time for considering his 
meaning or for fidgeting under his critical 
stare, for just then came Tom, an excited 
herald, and behind him slowly as usual the 
tall, slender young sculptor. As he drew near, 
the old gentlemen’s gaze left Gail’s face to 
fasten upon the lad’s with an almost hungr}' 
eagerness which was more astonishing than 
aught that had gone before. 

Jerry winced under the scrutiny and leaned 
his elbow on his sister’s shoulder, as much for 
mental as physical support. She was the 
only person whose expression never suggested 
pity. She accepted him just as he was and 


166 The Heroine of Roseland 


made neither open nor silent comment on his 
frailty and she “ rested ” him infinitely. 
Even now, as if to add to his confidence, she 
slipped the hand nearest him into his pocket, 
with that frank comradery existing between 
them ; and to relieve his annoyance, re- 
marked : 

“ This is my brother, Jerome Graham. It’s 
he who made those lovely things out of clay, 
as, some time, he hopes to make them out of 
marble. Jerry dear, this is father’s Uncle 
Joram — so Tom says.” 

“ Jerome, son of Jerome. Were ever two 
more alike ! Almost as if he had risen from 
the grave ! ” murmured the old man to him- 
self but quite loud enough for the others to 
hear and wonder. After all, though he so 
disliked personal references, it was a relief 
when Mr. Graham asked, just like other folks, 
“ Are you sick ? ” 

“ Thank you, no. Not at all. I — I suppose 
I’ve never been quite as strong — as — as I’d 
like to be, but that’s all. I am well, perfectly 
well, thank you again. Tommy says you’re 
pleased to admire some of my little things and 
I have to thank you for that, also.” 


At the Close of the Day 167 

Mr. Graham commanded Tommy : 

“ Bring something for him to sit on. He 
isn’t fit to stand ; ” and when a box was 
brought he motioned Jerome to place himself 
upon it, remarking : “ Got the same polite 

way with you, too. Never could catch the 
rascal unawares. Always could excuse him- 
self out of any fault, and — he had plenty ! 
How long you been so sick ? ” 

“ But I’m not 1 sick.’ I never was. Would 
you like to look at the models ? or will you 
not come into the house and see father? ” 

“ Presently. Presently I’ll either go into 
the house and see the man you call father or 
I’ll meet him out here. Till then I’d like to 
talk and get acquainted with you. I suppose 
you’ve heard of me ? ” 

“ Y-yes. Not often. Indeed, not much 
about you until — just now.” 

“ Hmm. I guess I wasn’t a pleasant sub- 
ject to Philibert. We quarreled and haven’t 
met in years. Each of us thought the other 
in the wrong, as is the way in quarrels, but 
that’s no matter now. Who taught you to 
make these 1 statues ’ ? ” 

“ Nobody. I just picked it up. I’ve never 


168 The Heroine of Roseland 


been able to have instruction, though, maybe 
— I shall have it some day.” 

“ You shall ! ” 

If a gun had been discharged at him Jerry 
could not have been more startled, nor his 
twin more radiant. After all, mother’s first 
disappointment about the expected visit of 
this beneficent man was as nothing and her 
hope that his coming might mean a better- 
ment of their fortunes was the great fact. He 
was queer. He was decidedly queer, and he 
talked strangely. As if he had, at one mo- 
ment, forgotten their father’s name, calling 
him “ Jerome,” and at another had remem- 
bered it perfectly. Well, no matter! Any- 
body had a right to be queer who appreciated 
Jerry’s genius and would help to give it a 
chance of development. “ You shall ! ” 
Those were magic words and already Gail 
loved the unprepossessing old man who had 
spoken them. 

She saw his personal peculiarities as plainly 
as Tommy did, but if they fascinated they 
did not “ disgust ” her as he had claimed. 
Still, when he happened to see her looking at 
the wen on his bald head and hastily clapped 


At the Close of the Day 169 

on his hat she liked him better and was much 
relieved. Then, in a sort of ecstasy, she 
listened to the brisk talk which now went on 
between the visitor and Jerome. 

One wouldn’t have suspected Uncle Joram 
of being a lover of art, and he told them that 
he had not been originally ; but that once he 
had known some one else who was, and that 
after he had lost that some one he had made 
up his mind to see if there was anything in 
the business of chipping images out of stone 
which should make a man throw up a fortune 
for the sake of prosecuting it. Then he had 
begun to understand, and, at last, when it was 
too late, he understood fully. Perhaps if he 
had not been so dense and pig-headed in the 
beginning there would have been no sin, no 
injustice, and no regret to follow. 

This was all interesting talk but, as Gail 
thought, it led nowhere in particular. There 
was no further mention of “ buying ” and her 
heart sank. If Jerry could sell something he 
could get books which would help him al- 
most as well as real teachers, and if father had 
lost his school, the money would be needed 
for other things too. She made a little impa- 


17 o The Heroine of Roseland 

tient gesture and, realizing that the dew was 
falling, and that Jerry should not be sitting 
out of doors exposed to it, she said : 

“ If you want to see the things, we’d better 
go into the greenhouse now, before it gets too 
dark.” 

Mr. Graham rose at once, but he made no 
step toward that place. What he did was to 
direct : 

“ Go in, all of you, and send that man you 
call your father out to me. I’ll give him just 
five minutes to come.” 

One spirit of indignation rose in them all. 
This was a teasing, tyrannical old man, who 
talked crazily as insolently, and whose manner 
of speaking of their father was the height of 
insult ! Gail swept him her profoundest cour- 
tesy, Jerome bowed, and Tommy glared ; but 
neither anger nor irony moved the now pre- 
occupied old man who saw nothing but an 
unforgotten face of which Jerry’s was the 
youthful image. 


CHAPTER XI 


DARKENED DAYS 

Jerry delivered the message which had been 
given them, softening its rudeness as much as 
might be, but to urge haste was not necessary. 
The instant he heard that the elder Mr. Gra- 
ham was on his premises, the Dominie tossed 
aside his papers and went out. His face 
expressed fresh annoyance and he looked 
shrewdly into his children’s eyes, as if to 
learn from them what sort of interview theirs 
had been with his unwelcome caller. He saw 
that they all seemed vexed and Jerry disap- 
pointed and, closing his lips with a firmness 
that suggested no “jellyfish ” — to which the 
sawyer had likened him — he sought his uncle. 

He was back again, very shortly, and re- 
ported to his wife : 

“ Mr. Joram Graham has bought one of the 
largest mills in town. He’s bought * Big 
House,’ too, and is going there to live. But I 
wish to say right here and now that that does 
171 


172 The Heroine oi Roseland 

not mean there is to be any intercourse be- 
tween his household and mine. Years ago he 
did one I loved an intolerable injustice, which 
he still refuses to right. Until that is done 
we cannot be friends. Cannot. I am sorry. 
It’s the wretchedest thing in life — a family 
quarrel. But there are some quarrels that 
are righteous and, without further explana- 
tion, you must believe me that this is such. 
Let us not discuss him any more and forget 
him if we can.” 

Having delivered himself of these state- 
ments, the Dominie stooped and kissed the 
tear-stained eyelids of his wife, thus mutely 
endeavoring to reassure her ; and from this 
unusual demonstration between their parents 
the elder children quietly turned their eyes, 
but not so master Tommy. As his father re- 
entered the study and again closed its door 
behind him, in itself an unusual circumstance, 
the boy demanded : 

“ What’s father a-kissin’ you for, mother ? 
Has anybody hurted you ? Has that whenny 
man?” 

“ Tommy ! Father said we were not to 
mention him,” reproved Luella from her stool 


Darkened Days 


1 73 


beside her mother’s sewing chair and softly 
slipping her own little hand within the 
matron’s. 

“ Oh ! bother ! I’d like to have my bread 
and milk and go to bed ! I get so tired taking 
care of all that circus an’ bein’ treasurer to it. 
Besides, if I can’t talk about him I can look 
at his ten centses and count it, can’t I ? ” 

“ Come on, laddie, I’m tired, too, and I’ve 
your own notion for early supper and bed,” 
said Jerome, with a yawn. He had seen Gail’s 
tender eyes scanning his disappointed face 
and he longed to hide it in the secrecy of his 
own room. Tommy’s room, too, of course, but 
Tommy didn’t interfere. He was always 
asleep as soon as in bed and gave no further 
trouble till daylight. 

“ Very well, Thomas. But don’t forget 
that tub of water in the shed entry. Satur- 
day night, you know.” 

“ Pshaw ! mother ! I’m tired. And I ain’t 
dirty. I ain’t dirty a mite. I washed all over 
last Saturday night that ever was. Besides — 
be ” 

“ Besides what, Thomas ? ” 

“I Wull, wull, I went a-swimmin’ 


174 


The Heroine of Roseland 


with Jimmy Barlow last Wednesday, so that 
ought to make up for another whole week.” 

Mrs. Graham paused with the bowl of milk 
in her hand, then sternly said : 

“ Very well, son. That settles it. You will 
not only take your bath to-night but every 
night for a week to come, and you will go to 
bed without your supper. If you need to be 
punished, to make you understand that when 
1 say ‘ no ’ I don’t mean ‘ yes,’ I will punish 
you. It is too early in the season for swim- 
ming, and you know that you are never al- 
lowed to go without some older person with 
you.” 

“ Oh, mother ! Now ! Well, he was older. 
Jimmy Barlow’s three whole months older’n 
what I be. Ask him and see. And — and — 
I’m awful, terrible hungry. Nothin’ but soup 
for dinner an’ soup never does last its full-up 
feel more’n no time.” 

“ Be thankful, boy, that you had as much 
as soup. As things seem now your next din- 
ner may be what Uncle ITi calls ‘ wind pud- 
ding.’ Go on. The soap and towel are on 
the shelf. Come, Jerry, Gail, Luella. Your 
suppers are ready.” 


'7 5 


Darkened Days 

The three privileged ones sat down to their 
simple meal while Tommy dragged his un- 
willing feet toward the shed entry and bed. 
But he was not without comfort. In his own 
little bureau drawer reposed a bag of last au- 
tumn’s chestnuts, almost as hard as bullets, 
and one fine puppy-nose apple. Both nuts 
and apple were what the boy called “ swops ” 
and never had he been more thankful for any 
“ trade ” than for that which would now stop 
that horrible all-gone feeling in his stomach. 
Secretly he knew his mother did not antici- 
pate his eating anything to-night, even flinty 
chestnuts, but openly she had not prohibited 
them. So he made as good a supper as he 
could upon them, munching them after his 
brother had also come to bed, and breaking 
only one tooth in the operation. 

“ Well, Tom, do the worms taste good ? 
Will you find a bed full of chestnut shells 
comfortable ? ” asked Jerome, after there had 
been some moments of silence on his part and 
the culprit had fancied himself undetected. 

“Huh! You awake? I’d like to know 
how you know everythin’ goes on ! A feller 
can’t even wink without you know it, Jerry 


176 The Heroine of Roseland 


Graham ! An’ I wish — I wish What 

made you say that ’bout worms, anyway ? I 

hadn’t thought of ’em, ’fore, and now * 

Now I feel all sort of squirmy inside. Jerry, 
do chestnut worms live in hard chestnuts ? 
Awful hard ones, that you break your teeth 
on?” 

“ Laddie, have you broken a tooth? I’m 
sorry. But I fear worms do continue to live 
in nuts after they have grown hard, because 
quite often, lately, I’ve found some of the 
white, pulpy creatures on the top of our 
bureau and they could only have come from 
that bag of yours, when you’ve been eating 
some. Never mind, though. You don’t know 
that you’ve swallowed any to-night, in the 
dark, and I shouldn’t have mentioned it ex- 
cept I fancied you’d forgotten what father ex- 
plained about the * spirit ’ and the 1 letter ’ of 
the law. Now, good-night and go to sleep.” 

Tommy derived what comfort he could 
from these remarks and did promptly fall 
asleep ; but his dreams were troubled ones and 
in them he had to attempt, over and over 
again, the hopeless task of training wiggley 
chestnut worms to perform in the menagerie, 


177 


Darkened Days 

only to see them laughing in his face as they 
triumphantly devoured all the nickels in his 
treasury. 

The Sunday morning brought more of the 
showers which promised “ May flowers,” but 
rain or shine made no difference in the church 
going habits of the household. All went, even 
the mother, whose custom it was to provide 
a better dinner than ordinary for the best day 
of the week, and who usually remained at 
home to prepare it. This time, however, she 
decided that the cold soup-meat was all suffi- 
cient for a family which might soon be re- 
duced to even less palatable food than that ; 
and who felt that she must get away from 
home for a little and seek what help she 
could in public worship. 

Jerry rode on Balaam. This the Dominie 
decreed, though the others wondered and even 
the lad demurred, shrinking from any new 
thing that might call attention to his weak- 
ness. But, all at once, it seemed to the whole 
household that the gentle, yielding school- 
master had begun to assert a strong will, 
against which even his wife’s protests were 
useless. As if the trouble that had overtaken 


iy8 The Heroine of Roseland 


him had roused a new spirit within him. It 
had. For the time being indignation was 
rendering him stern and arbitrary and, natu- 
rally, those nearest to him were first to feel 
the change in his temper. 

Besides, he alone appeared to observe how 
swiftly Jerry's strength and color faded, though 
he would not force the lad’s own attention to 
the fact, and he covered his command that 
Balaam should be saddled by the comment : 

“ I bought him for our boy to ride, and as 
it looks now, we won’t be able to keep the 
donkey after the summer ends and grass is 
gone. So, to get our money’s worth, use him 
whenever possible.” 

So Jerry rode to church, Gail walking be- 
side the little burro, and resting her hand 
upon the pommel of his saddle, ready to ward 
off from her sensitive twin any chance re- 
marks of people they met. And, Sunday past, 
the schoolmaster employed his week’s vacation 
by collecting all his personal belongings from 
the schoolhouse, and he was himself surprised 
to find how numerous these were. All along, 
during the many years of his labor, he had 
been accustomed to provide for his pupils’ use 


l 79 


Darkened Days 

globes, charts, maps, and even expensive refer- 
ence books, which the prudence or procras- 
tination of the school board delayed to fur- 
nish ; and the conveying of these to Roseland 
was a work of time. 

Many an eye regretfully watched him and 
Gail, passing down the street on these errands, 
and noticed how, as the days slipped by, his 
first half-defiant bearing altered to a meek 
resignation, his face saddened, and his shoul- 
ders drooped more than was their wont. But 
the girl still held her head high and flashed 
angry glances here and there, upon such as 
she considered had been instrumental in 
her father’s discharge. 

With that, too, had come the loss of her 
own cherished dream of one day becoming his 
assistant in the beloved school. To make 
herself capable of the position had been her 
great endeavor and because of her diligence 
she had long ago outstripped her own class 
and gone on by herself, under his continual 
supervision. In everything save her devotion 
to study she was a careless, happy-go-lucky 
girl, the prompter of school-fun, but in that 
she was a marvel to her mates. 


i8o The Heroine of Roseland 


“ Now, after all, what’s been the use of so 
much book-stuff, father dear? To think I’d 
almost finished geometry and was ready for 
1 trig ’ ! But who’d employ me in any other 
school or believe that such a harum-scarum 
could conjugate a Latin verb! Now, I’ve 
done. If learning means only — only what 
has come to you after all these years I’ll give 
it up. For the rest of my days I’ll devote 
myself to something folks can see. Learning 
is all in your insides, and I begin to think 
that nobody cares for what’s inside a body’s 

head. What can you do with your hands 

Father, may I go to work in a mill ? ” 

The Dominie paused so abruptly in his 
swift walk down the steep street that her arm 
slipped from his shoulder and a book from 
the pile he was carrying. There was angry 
reproach in his tone as he cried : 

“ Abigail ! Don’t mention such a thing as 
that again ! ” 

“ But, father, why not ? I could earn a lot 
of money. In the carpet-mill some of the 
‘ setters ’ earn as much as twelve dollars a week. 
Twelve whole dollars ! What do you think 
<of that? Even beginners get something and 


Darkened Days 181 

I could learn to do the work. I’ve been in- 
quiring about it No, please don’t hold up 

your hand to stop me till I’ve said my say ! 
Nor don’t look so shocked. I’m no better 
than other girls and somebody must earn 
money. I’ve talked it over with mother and 
she wasn’t surprised. She even thinks of do- 
ing something herself. She says she was a 
dressmaker before she was married, though I 
didn’t remember hearing about it, and that 
she may take up her trade again here. Of 

course she’d have to buy patterns and 

Why, father! Don’t look so distressed! I 
won’t talk about it any more, now, if you ob- 
ject ; but you please keep thinking, dear, even 
if I don’t talk. I shouldn’t mind. I — I 
shouldn’t mind it hardly any except — for 
Jerry. I should hate the being away from 
him all day, and ” 

Again and more peremptorily the Dominie’s 
hand was uplifted, and Gail said no more ; 
yet when she had reached home she asked 
her mother : 

“ Isn’t there something else that troubles 
father besides losing school ? He doesn’t look 
nor speak like himself ; and sometimes he 


182 The Heroine of Roseland 


stares at Jerry or me as if he were on the point 
of telling us something. We’ve both noticed 
it, though Jerome begged me not to disturb 
father by mentioning it to him. Is it any- 
thing you can tell me, motherkin ? And is 
it anything to do with that old Uncle Joram ? ” 

Mrs. Graham looked up from her sewing 
with a sudden, startled expression and, for a 
moment, seemed on the point of explanation. 
But she contented herself by answering, and 
unfortunately adding to her daughter’s curi- 
osity : 

“ Whatever secrets your father has he will 
keep to himself. I have no right to tell them. 
He is in trouble and it is more than the school 
trouble, too. How it will end, I don’t know. 
I always thought he was dreadful easy but, 
lately, he’s as stubborn as a mule ; as Balaam 
was, yesterday, when Jerry tried to make him 
travel the way he didn’t want to. There, don’t 
talk any more, and about this mill work. Of 
course, if he won’t do what he ought, I suppose 
you’d rather try that than starve. There’s 
J erry to consider, too. But Oh ! if Phili- 

bert had ever tried some other business than 
school-teaching ! Then he wouldn’t have 


Darkened Days 183 

been kicked out in his old age and things — 
things wouldn’t have been so hard ! ” 

Tears sprang into the eyes of the greatly 
worried woman, who impatiently brushed 
them aside and Gail waited a moment before 
she could answer gently : 

“ But father isn’t old, motherkin, and he’ll 
surely, surely get another school before the fall. 
He says there are agencies to supply teachers 
though he’s afraid no board would want a man 
that’s 1 failed.’ If we could only make him feel 
differently about that ! He hasn’t ‘ failed.’ 
He’s just the same, splendid, clever, all-wise 
man he ever was. It’s just that stingy lot of 
men who have the hiring of a principal and 
want to save money at the expense of their 
children’s souls. Because the chief thing in 
education, my father believes, is to train our 
souls to high and noble things. Oh ! there 
may be lots of men can teach books but there’s 
only father who can teach souls ! That hate- 
ful sophomore, who’s coming, can’t. I know 
by the looks of him, with his mat of football 
hair and his big hands and his horrid broad 
shoulders! Huh! He!” 

Mrs. Graham smiled grimly. She felt as if 


184 The Heroine of Roseland 


her daughter were upbraiding her for her 
want of faith in her husband and the feel- 
ing was not agreeable. So she answered, 
stiffly : 

“ Oh ! of course, I know you sympathize 
more with your father than with me, though 
I’ve tried to do my duty by you faithfully as 
I had sense to guide me. As I had sense. 
Some folks aren’t all brains, like you and him. 
It’s natural, though, you should side with 
him. I’m not denying that. But, if you’ll 
step down off your high horse for awhile and 
make a pot of suppawn for dinner, it might be 
something to the purpose. The water’s a-boil, 
and I’ve salted it. All you need do is keep it 
stirred well from the bottom. Don’t get moon- 
ing and let it stick. We can no longer afford 
to spoil our victuals by carelessness.” 

Gail longed to retort : “As if we ever 
could ! ” but her surprise and hurt were too 
deep for words just then. Why was it that 
between her mother and herself there was 
always this little separation of thought and 
sympathy ? With Jerry she felt “just one ” ; 
and with her father almost as close. But with 
the mother, who should by nature have been 


Darkened Days 185 

nearest of all, there was always “ a little bridge 
to cross ” before they met in mutual under- 
standing. Nor did she like this outspoken 
criticism of the Dominie by one who should 
have been first to defend him ; and, altogether, 
it was a very unhappy girl who silently left the 
cool piazza where the house-mistress was sit- 
ting, to stand over a cooking stove and stir the 
great kettle of suppawn, “that nobody likes 
when it’s done ! ” 

However, it is probable that into the vigorous 
motion of her arm went some of the anger 
from her heart ; and the long-continued exer- 
cise if heating to her body was cooling to her 
soul. The bubbling mess of pudding, that 
snapped at intervals and sent a hot morsel to 
her hand, began to represent something better 
than “ mush and milk '' ; and she explained to 
Mrs. Tabb, who always escaped from the men- 
agerie when there was cooking going on in the 
kitchen : 

“ I reckon, Ma'am Puss, that I'm a good 
deal like this Indian meal. A little bitter in 
the mouth and sort of scratchy to swallow. 
So I have to be cooked to make me eatable, 
even if I can't be made agreeable when cooked. 


186 The Heroine of Roseland 


Life's boiling me and tossing me and — and 
ought to be softening me, only I haven't got 
that far yet — and I fling out hot spatters of 
half-done judgments and hurt people like a 
burn. I’ve hurt my precious father and now 

my mother, and If you don't get out 

from under foot you'll get hurt, yourself, Mrs. 
Tabb ! Moreover I suppose if I were my 
mother and my mother were me I’d be pro- 
voked with me — with her — where was I ‘ at,' 
Miss Cat ? Anyhow, I think this stuff is done, 
even if I’m not ; so if mother has nothing 
more for me to do I’ll hie me to my labor over 
the butcher’s book, and a visit with my Jerry 
at the same blessed moment." 

Then followed one of the long delightful 
talks in the old greenhouse which Gail was 
never to forget. The other young folks were 
off somewhere, visiting their own playmates, 
and there was nothing to disturb the happiness 
of the twins. 

“ We call our times together 1 talks,' sweet- 
heart, but I’ve observed before that all the 
talk is mine and all the thinking yours. Yet 
I think I should burst — if I didn’t have this 
relief. With father so blue, and silent, and 


Darkened Days 187 

shut up in himself, and mother so — dare I say 
cross ? ” she asked. 

“ I presume you dare. There’s not much 
you don’t. I’d love to see mother rich and 
having everything she likes best. I think 
nobody could accuse her of crossness then, and 
I don’t blame her now. She has much to do, 
so little time for 1 fun,’ of any sort, and the 
plainest things around her. I consider that 
she’s been wonderfully kind and patient, 
after all, and if her tongue is a bit sharp to 
the rest of you, now and then, I don’t re- 
member that it ever was to me. Be good to 
mother, Gail, and never impatient ; never, not 
once.” 

The girl had been adding up columns of 
badly formed figures which Mr. Sampson’s 
big fingers had hurriedly set down and doing 
this even while she talked ; but she paused 
now to lay her hand on her brother’s, hang- 
ing limply over the edge of the hammock 
where he lay, and to remark : 

“ My boy, if this is one of your preachy 
days, please omit ! I’ve come to you for 
comfort — that is, for praise ! — and if you 
haven’t any on hand please go to sleep while 


188 The Heroine of Roseland 


I make this column add twice alike. It takes 
a wise Gail to tell Mr. Sampson’s eights from 
his threes and his ones from his sevens. Go 
to sleep, brother. You need it.” 

Jerry laughed and obediently closed his 
eyes while she stooped and daintily kissed his 
pale cheek. Always her touch upon him was 
of the lightest, knowing well how he shrank 
from a heavier one; and he opened his eyes 
once more to say, as if all his soul was in his 
voice : 

“ Don’t think but that I ‘ praise,’ my pre- 
cious sister ! ” 

Then he fell asleep. 


CHAPTER XII 


REVELATIONS 

Jerry fell asleep and waked no more. 

Over the shock, the horror, the agony of 
that fact it is impossible to dwell. Any sister 
who has loved a brother as Gail loved her 
twin knows without description what she 
suffered, and any other may thank God for 
her lack of knowledge. 

The great sorrow dwarfed all minor ones. 
Now it seemed not to matter at all that the 
schoolmaster had lost his position, that already 
there must be use made of the small sum 
of money Mrs. Graham had put aside for “ a 
rainy day,” or that a “ family quarrel ” had 
cast its shadow over them. The “ rainy day ” 
had come, and it was the Dominie’s satis- 
faction to know that, in that dark hour, only 
those who had always cared for and loved 
Jerome had met the last sad expenses. 

Indeed, there had come a letter from Mrs. 
George, offering an advance of money, but 
this had been promptly, though courteously, 
189 


190 The Heroine of Roseland 

declined ; and another letter sent by Uncle 
Joram had been returned unopened. Against 
this last action Mrs. Graham had vigorously 
protested, but her husband had not yielded to 
her judgment. She had even appealed to 
Gail to aid her in her argument, saying : 

“ There’s no need to be foolish even if we 
are in trouble. It’s been difficult enough to 
scrape together what I did and I had felt some 
comfort in thinking we had that much to live 
upon till your father gets a new school — if 
he ever does ! If Uncle Joram has the will 
to help us it’s like flying in the face of Provi- 
dence to refuse his help. I wish you’d speak 
to him ” 

But poor Gail had looked up as if she had 
not heard, or, hearing, understood. As for 
speaking she was almost past that. During 
those first dreadful days she lived in a continual 
hush, listening for that dear voice whose last 
spoken words had been : “ My precious sister.” 
She did not cry, she could not ; and she moved 
about in an abnormally gentle manner, doing 
everything she was directed to do, neglecting 
no accustomed duty, and uttering no com- 
plaint. 


Revelations 


191 


But it hurt her intolerably to have friend 
or neighbor offer their condolence and she 
shrank away to some hidden spot each time 
a visitor came to Roseland. The visitors were 
now many. To the father and mother the 
sympathy of their neighbors was very dear, 
nor had they realized in their quiet lives how 
important those lives were really considered 
by their fellow townsmen. 

As for Luella, though deeply sharing the 
household sorrow, she yet found great satis- 
faction in being called upon to help do the 
honors of the occasion. Dressed in her Sun- 
day frock, she was ready from morning till 
night to open the door to callers, to summon 
her mother into the study, and to hover near 
— available for any chance errand or bit of 
outside gossip. 

It was Tommy who came nearest entering 
his elder sister’s mood in those dark hours, 
and he was the only one from whose presence 
she did not shrink. Like her he could not 
talk. Unlike her he could and did weep, co- 
piously, suddenly, with heart-broken, shudder- 
ing sobs which touched her as much as any- 
thing could touch her just then. She did not 


192 The Heroine of Roseland 

try to comfort him in words, but, sometimes, 
when his paroxysms of grief were most violent 
she would lay her cold hand on his curly 
head and keep it there until he quieted. 

In silence they ministered to all the “ pet 
beasties ” which, on their own part, seemed to 
realize the altered moods of their attendants 
and to give little trouble ; then, still in si- 
lence, they sat together in the old greenhouse 
that, to both, would forever seem a sacred 
place because of that which had occurred there. 

So the first week passed. Slowly, as if it 
were a week of years instead of days, and still 
Gail’s eyes were dry and her face colorless ; 
and though she dutifully took her place at 
table when bidden she could eat but a morsel 
at a time and made her early excuses to absent 
herself. 

Mrs. Graham would find the tears rising in 
her own eyes as she nodded the desired per- 
mission to “ Excuse, please,” and the Dominie 
felt his own food choke him. He was a sorely 
perplexed man ; frequently opening his lips as 
if to unburden his mind of some hidden 
matter, and as often closing them again, fear- 
ing the right time had not come. 


Revelations 


i93 


However a change came when there arrived 
the usual spring box from Aunt George. It 
bore a different address from formerly, Gail’s 
name instead of Jerry’s, and with a hope that 
this might startle the girl out of her unnatural 
calmness, she was summoned to open it. 

A frown showed that she had observed this 
difference but she said nothing, though her 
fingers trembled as she untied the knotted 
string in the painstaking way her mother ap- 
proved. Then she folded the wrappings with 
equal care, delaying as long as possible to raise 
the cover of the big box, knowing that for the 
first time there would be no boyish suit of 
clothing accompanying her own girlish things. 
But she was wholly unprepared for that which 
was enclosed ; and as she lifted from its tissue 
paper a plain black costume she exclaimed in 
surprise : “ Why — what ? ” 

They were all standing by and Mrs. Graham 
quietly took the frock from the girl’s hands, 
and regarded it with critical satisfaction, but 
she kept her eyes averted as she remarked : 

“ This is of much finer quality than usual 
and in excellent keeping. It looks as if it 
would fit you.” 


i 9 4 


The Heroine of Roseland 


Gail said nothing. To the little gown was 
added a black jacket, a simple hat, and a pair 
of gloves — kid — all of the same sombre hue. 
There were even a few black-bordered handker- 
chiefs, and Luella’s finery-loving soul could 
not refrain its admiration. 

“ Oh ! aren’t they nice ! You never had 
such nice things before, did you, sister? You 
never had a pair of kid gloves in your life, nor 
I. The first thing I buy, if I ever have money, 
will be a pair of just such gloves as those. 
How soft they feel.” 

For so well grown a girl Gail had a remark- 
ably small hand, while that of her sister was 
of ordinary size for her age. It was perfectly 
natural for the recipient of the coveted gloves 
to toss them forward with the remark : 

“ Then take these, if you want them. I 
don’t.” 

“ But Abigail Graham ! I can’t wear black 
gloves, even if they should fit. Nobody is to 
wear mourning but you, so mother says.” 

“ Why — why — what do you mean ? Be- 
cause I loved him best ? I feel so. Yet — a 

mother Oh! I’ve seen it all along! 

Nobody cares, nobody cares but me ! ” 


Revelations 


>9 S 


With a sob that was almost a shriek the un- 
happy girl flung the box away from her and 
covered her face with her hands. Only an 
instant later to remove them and to demand, 
with keen scrutiny of both parents’ faces : 

“ What does it mean ? Why am I to be 
swathed in this horrible black stuff, yet none 
of you to share it ? ” 

Luella also looked puzzled. She had ac- 
cepted her mother’s announcement of the fact 
without inquiring its reason ; but Tommy had 
an answer ready : 

“ ’Cause, Gaily darlin’, ’cause you and 
him is twins. Twins always do dress alike 
and ” 

He was about to add something more dis- 
tressing had not his mother laid her finger on 
his lips. 

The Dominie took Gail’s hand, saying : 

“ Come. There is something you should 
know and now is the time.” 

When the study door had been shut upon 
them he placed her in her own low chair be- 
side his big one and began a story, so often 
rehearsed in his own mind that it sounded 
like a page from a book : — 


196 The Heroine of Roseland 


“ Once upon a time a man died and left 
two sons. To the elder son, Joram, he be- 
queathed most of his possessions, including all 
of his ready money. To increase this money 
Joram went into business and prospered. He 
never married. 

“ Philibert, the }munger son, did marry and 
struggled along on the small, worn-out farm, 
which was his own inheritance, till his wife 
died. Then he took their three little lads and 
sought employment in his brother’s factory. 
This was grudgingly given but had not to be 
long continued, for Philibert soon followed 
his wife out of this world and the rich manu- 
facturer was left with three orphans dependent 
upon him. There was no other relative who 
could receive them, so he squared his jaw and 
set his bachelor wits to learn the duties of a 
parent. He summed up these duties in a few 
words which only George, the eldest orphan, 
fully understood : 

“ ‘ I shall raise you as fast and as cheaply as 
I can till you are eighteen years of age — 
when each must shift for himself ; and there 
are just two things you must learn by heart. 
First — my word is law ; and second — it takes 


Revelations 


197 


a dollar one whole year to earn five cents. 
Now go to school and don't waste your time, 
for it flies.' 

“ It did fly. Almost before they knew it 
the little lads were grown. When George's 
term of dependence ended he was already a 
clerk in the great factory, and, in character, 
the very counterpart of its head. Just before 
he was eighteen Jerome, the next younger 
boy, ran away. He had been the only one of 
the orphans to be really loved by his guardian, 
from whom he now cut himself off by a bitter 
quarrel. But when his wardship was over, 
Philibert, the youngest and his father's name- 
sake, gratefully thanked his uncle, packed his 
valise, and set out to work his way through 
college. To him knowledge seemed the 
noblest achievement of life ; and, with book 
or fishing-rod, to lie beside a forest stream — 
dreaming great dreams which never could 
come true — its most adorable delight.'' 

“ And that dreamer I know ! It was you, 
father dear ! " cried Gail, with her first show 
of interest in anything. 

“ Yes, girlie. I was the dreamer ; but — I 
am not your father." 


198 The Heroine of Roseland 

“ What ? What ! What is that you say ? ” 
she demanded, springing up, and now with 
interest fully roused. 

“ I am your uncle, not your father. He 
was that gifted, beloved, runaway lad, my 
brother Jerome, whose name your own Jerome 
has borne.” 

Gail dropped back to her seat, feeling as if 
the solid floor was reeling beneath her feet 
and with a terrible chill of distrust and suffer- 
ing sweeping over her. At last she forced her 
dry lips to ask : 

“ Where is he, that other — my real father ? ” 

“ Dead, long ago. Dead in your infancy.” 

“ And my mother ? I suppose there was a 
mother — real, too ! ” 

The schoolmaster sighed at the tone but he 
was not surprised. All along he had known 
that this revelation would be a bitter one for 
both and would not have made it had it not 
become necessary. Better for her to learn the 
truth from him who loved her so well, than 
for a stranger to impart it more rudely. 

“ Yes, my child, there was a mother, fair 
and lovely, I believe, although I never saw 
her. She died in England, where she was 


Revelations 


*99 

married, and you, her twin children were 
born.” 

“Dead? Dead! Everybody belonging to 
me dead ! Then I might as well die, too. 
Oh ! I wish I could ! I wish I had, when 
Jerry did, before I ever heard this dreadful 
story or knew we had been brought up in a 
lie. A lie ! Oh, father — or uncle — or whatever 
you are — how could you, how could you ! 
And I have believed in you, loved you as the 
absolute truth ! ” 

“ Yes, dear. Will love me still and always, 
I trust, when the shock of this news has 
passed. Believe me, it was all done for the 
best. To shield you till you were old enough, 
strong enough, to bear the truth. Done for 
you and for that other Jerome who was as like 
your brother as it was possible for two to be, 
save in the matter of physical health. You 
will understand and be glad, after awhile.” 

“ Glad ? I ? Because I have been reared 
in a falsehood? Forgive me if I am disre- 
spectful, but — you’ve always talked as if the 
truth was above everything in the world and 
a — a lie — the lowest down thing possible. 
Acting on what you said — I’ve always de- 


200 


The Heroine of Roseland 


spised a falsehood and But now ! Oh, 

Jerry, Jerry ! My one perfect darling ! I 
cannot, cannot live without you ! ” 

Down she sank on the very floor and for 
the first time since her bereavement tears 
came. Such floods of them as seemed to wash 
away her indignation and to clear her thoughts, 
though not to lessen her grief. 

The schoolmaster sat beside her silent and 
with head bowed, though with no look of 
shame on his fine face. Her frantic accusa- 
tions had disturbed him not at all, for he 
still knew that his object had been only her 
greatest good, and he waited her recovery 
with the same tender patience he had ever 
shown her. Finally she raised her head and, 
though still avoiding his eyes, asked brokenly : 

“ Will you tell me why — why this was all 
done ? ” 

“ Dear one, I cannot. Not yet. Maybe 
never. You must still trust to my love that 
this, also, is for the best. Some time, I believe, 
all this mystery may be made clear — as great 
a mystery to me, in some respects, as to 
you-” 

“ How old were we when you — adopted us ? ” 


Revelations 


2C1 


“ Mere infants, less than one year old.” 

“ Had you been married long ? Was mother 
— I mean your wife — was she willing to take 
us and help — deceive us? ” 

“ Gently, Gail. I was not even married. 
She was brave enough to take me and my 
charges, to cast in her lot with ours. That it 
has not been an easy lot, I know ; but few 
would have borne it so well. We owe much 
to Mary, my faithful wife.” 

“ 1 We.’ Yes, I suppose 1 we ’ do. But 

Let me go now, let me go ! To Jerry. I 
must tell it to Jerry ! ” 

With a cry of utter misery she burst from 
the room, from the house, and sped with frantic 
haste up over the hillside to the cemetery on 
its crest. There she flung herself headlong 
on a freshly sodded mound, moaning her de- 
sire : 

“ Let me come to you, my darling ! My 
one, my own only beloved ! All the rest 
are false — and I — I cannot bear it. I can- 
not ! ” 

She did not hear the footsteps drawing near. 
She heard nothing of nature’s sweet sounds all 
about her, and knew nothing save her own 


202 The Heroine of Roseland 

wretchedness till a kind voice close by was 
saying : 

“ Ah, yes you can ! You’ll live to do our 
dear boy proud, my little girl ! Uncle Hiram 
knows, and he’s come to take you home.” 


CHAPTER XIII 


AUNT SARAH AT THE MILL 

Then she felt herself gently lifted to her 
feet and found a bunch of wild flowers slipped 
into her hand. Another bunch of the same 
sort lay on the narrow mound, though these 
were faded and had been placed there hours 
before. They were of one of the many kinds 
of violets growing on the wooded hill behind 
the old sawmill, and possessed the rare gift 
of fragrance, and Jerry had loved them be- 
yond all other forest blossoms. 

Once Gail had laughingly told him : 

“ I believe that you believe that this special 
variety grows just for you! There isn’t an- 
other spot in all the countryside, so far as I’ve 
explored it, where sweet wild violets do grow ; 
so let’s name this species the Violacese Jero- 
menia — the Jerome violet.” 

Thereafter they had called it “ Jeromenia,” 
and it had been her great delight to come 
upon a bunch of it and carry it home to him. 

As now the exquisite, faint perfume touched 
203 


204 The Heroine of Roseland 

her nostrils, the tears came to her eyes and 
blinded her when she stooped to lay the fresh 
blossoms on the ground. 

“ Dear Uncle Hiram, you’ve been here be- 
fore — I know by those others. Jerry would 
thank you, and I — I thank you for him.” 

“ You’re more than welcome, deary,” an- 
swered the old sawyer, as well pleased by the 
natural expression of her grief in tears as by 
her gratitude for his gift. “ Yes, I’ve been 
here every day. I couldn’t keep away, bein’s I 
had to learn what our boy wanted me to do.” 

•‘What are you saying?” demanded Gail, 
greatly astonished. 

“Just that. I loved him, too, you know; 
after an old man’s fashion and one that’d had 
had no other son to comfort. I love him still 
so well I want to keep on doin’ just what he 
likes best. We had many a talk together, 
him an’ me, an’ his wisdom concernin’ life was 
wonderful, it often struck me. I’m kind of a 
raspy old creatur’, at times, an’ a mite stub- 
born in my judgments ; but the way that dear 
laddie could talk me out of m}^ hatefulness 
into charity was nothin’ short of marvelous. 
The purest heart an’ the cleverest brain ever 


Aunt Sarah at the Mill 


205 


put into a fifteen-year-old body, our Jerry 
had. Has 'em still, only carried 'em out of 
sight. This very morning I was as mad as 
a hatter, ’cause a man that owed me some 
money, which I need to buy lumber with, had 
sent word he couldn’t pay now, seein’s he'd 
just had to get a new horse an' buggy to take 
his wife out ridin’ in. An’ he’s one them 
shiftless fellers that never is out of debt, never 
was, an' never will be. Always 1 robbin' Peter 
to pay Paul,' an' no more need of a buggy- 
wagon than I have of two sawmills, seein' I 
haven't got business enough to keep one run- 
nin’. However, off I started through the 
woods to that man's house, ready to give 
him 1 hail Columbia ! ' to a short metre tune, 
when I come across a patch of these posies ; 
and the sight an' scent of 'em was just like a 
voice sayin’ : 1 Now, Uncle Hi, go slow. You 

know that man's wife is sick and needs buggy- 
ridin', and he's not been given much sense. 
You don't really need that money, you ain’t 
sufferin’ for it, and just give him time. May 
be the buggy-rides will cure the sick wife, and 
that may put new heart and more sense into 
the husband ' ; and so — betwixt an’ between 


206 The Heroine of Roseland 


— all I could do was pick them talkin’-posies 
an’ fetch ’em to the wise little lad who’s gone 
faring home to God. Now, come. You’re 
to go back with me and make a good long visit. 
Sister Sarah’s there, and if she isn’t the best 
medicine the dear Lord ever sent to sick souls 
my name ain’t Hiram Smith, Wood-sawyer to 
the Community of Millville. Come. This 
bowlder’s gettin’ a trifle hard to set on, an’ 
Sarah’s got on her company bib-an’-tucker, all 
ready for you.” 

He rose from the big stone where they had 
been sitting while he talked and a wistful look 
came into Gail’s eyes. 

“ I should like to go. Oh ! how I should 
like it ! The quiet, the peace of the big woods 
and the murmur of the river. It seems as if I 
could get rested there and, maybe, understand 
why this horrible thing has befallen me. But 
I can’t without asking. I can’t, more than 
ever now because — Oh Uncle Hi, I don’t belong ! 
I belong to nobody, nobody in all this world, 
since Jerry’s gone! Did you know that? I 
didn’t till just now, and I can’t bear it ! ” 

“ Oh ! yes you can,” again he earnestly as- 
sured her. “ Youth’s a terrible season for 


Aunt Sarah at the Mill 


207 


feeling things, but time helps. And it’s all 
right at home. Some days ago I got permis- 
sion to take an’ fetch you to the mill soon’s 
ever Sarah come. Some the neighbors up-hill 
will be goin’ by to the post-office an 7 they’ll 
bring back a satchel of clothes for you, so’s 
you can stay a good long spell. We all reckon 
’t the woods will help you to get the rights of 
this great trouble and to settle your new life 
accordin’. Why, child alive, to lie under them 
pine branches and listen to ’em talkin’ things 
over is the very soothingest of all created 
sounds. Come. I saw Sarah whiskin’ a pan 
of the primest lookin’ jumbles into my oven, 
an’ my old mouth is fairly waterin’ for a sam- 
ple of ’em. Come.” 

The suggestion of his own hunger moved 
her sooner than an appeal to hers, and there 
was comfort in the thought of old Aunt 
Sarah’s beautiful, cheerful face. She was a 
woman whose visits to her brother’s isolated 
home had always been gala days for Jerome 
and Gail, that is when he had been strong 
enough to climb to the mill. Even now with- 
out him the girl grew impatient for the meet- 
ing and, once upon the road, needed no more 


2 o 8 The Heroine of Roseland 


of Uncle Hiram’s urging. Indeed, she soon 
outstripped him and, when the mill was in 
sight, ran forward alone to meet the welcome 
she knew was waiting. Ah ! yes. There it 
was ! The familiar thump, thump, thump, of 
a pair of wooden crutches over the hard path, 
and in another moment she was clasped in 
Aunt Sarah’s arms. 

“ Why, bless my darling ! How she has 
grown ! A whole endurin’ year since we two 
met, and now a’most as big as me ! Bless her 
sweet face, ’tis a good sight to my old eyes. 
Come in, come in ! ” 

For the sudden tears which came and filled 
her own eyes Gail could scarely see the fine 
face bent to hers, but she snatched away the 
crutch nearest her and made the crippled 
woman use her own shoulder in its stead. 
Thus they entered the living room and there 
Uncle Hiram found them, side by side on the 
chintz-covered home-made lounge, with the 
girl’s head on his sister’s bosom, sobbing out 
all her grief. He was for remonstrance but 
the wiser woman held up her hand in protest 
and he left them to each other. 

Aunt Sarah said not a word, nor did she 



' ad fljl 




IN ANOTHER MOMENT SHE WAS IN HER ARMS 



Aunt Sarah at the Mill 


2og 


move, although the position into which she 
had half fallen strained upon her lame knee 
and gave her keen pain ; and, finally, Gail 
ceased sobbing and lifted her tear-wet face with 
a feeble smile upon it. 

“ Oh, Aunt Sarah ! ” 

“ Yes, deary, I know. I know all about it. 
Seven little children and the good man who 
would have been the staff of my old age I’ve 
had to part with. Can’t tell me anything new 
about sorrow, though the worst is — each per- 
son’s grief is his own, especial, different from 
that of anybody else as he or she is different. 
But after all’s said and done I feel more grate- 
ful for the sorrow than for the joys of my life. 
True.” 

“ Why, Aunt Sarah ! How can you ? How 
can you ? Grateful ? Do you suppose I can 
ever be grateful for losing Jerry ? ” cried Gail 
indignantly, and feeling that the other must 
be actually heartless. 

“ Well, if you had lost him — no. If you 
had ! ” 

“ Haven’t I ? Oh ! I am sorry I came ! I 
thought you’d understand, but you don’t. 
Nobody does. Nobody ! ” 


210 The Heroine of Roseland 

Just then the sawyer’s old cat, hitherto a 
favorite of Gail’s, came purring to her feet and 
rubbed its sleek sides against her knee, asking 
to be petted. Instead of the expected stroking 
the girl gave the animal a fierce thrust, kick- 
ing it rudely out of the way, and crying : 

“ Oh ! I hate it ! I hate every such 
wretched, miserable creature ! I’ve read that 
‘ the principle of life ’ is all the same in every- 
thing. That has life — that good-for-nothing 
beast — yet Jerry — Jerry hasn’t ! I could rend 
every animal in bits with my own hands if so 
I might steal that ‘ life ’ which would bring 
him back to me ! Oh, Aunt Sarah, why can’t I 
die, too, and go to him wherever he is? ” 

“ Because he’s right here this minute ; 
shocked as I am at the almost blasphemy your 
young lips speak. Don’t say such as that 
again, little girl, if you don’t want to grieve 
him.” 

It was Gail’s turn to be astonished, and she 
harshly demanded : 

“ Are you a spiritualist, Aunt Sarah, and 
believe such things? ” 

“ I never bothered my poor head with ‘ ists ’ 
nor ‘ isms.’ I’m a plain, old-fashioned, try- 


Aunt Sarah at the Mill 


211 


to-be-Christian woman. But I know that 
what has once been a part of my life is always 
a part. Do you suppose that just because my 
babies are asleep in the ground they’re any 
less my babies than if they were sleeping in 
my arms? Not one bit. And the love that 
came with them, the love they left with me, 
has made me so much richer than I was be- 
fore they ever lived. So with you. Jerome 
is here, inside your heart, your soul, a part of 
you. The best part, maybe, and that’s for 
time to prove. Having had him you can 
never, never lose him. That’s what I mean 
by his being here. And he’s left you his work 
to finish. I think I never knew anybody 
more thoughtful for other people nor who tried 
so unselfishly to make other people happy. 
Well, always seemed as if you two were one ; 
so it’s plain as A B C that you’ve to go on 
spreading the happiness — and spreading it in 
double portion. There, that’s the end of my 
sermon ; and — for goodness’ sake, Hiram P. 
Smith, do come in and stop peeking ! Any- 
thing nettles me it’s peeking ! The lecture’s 
over and the jumbles are done. Come in and 
help yourself; then fly around and set the 


212 The Heroine of Roseland 

house to one side, ’cause I’m set on going posy- 
hunting soon’s supper is over. I’ll bake a 
batch of soda biscuit but ’ll fix for yeast bread 
to-night. I brought ajar of my strained honey 
and a boiled ham from home. We’ll feast- 
royal ! You see, Gaily, it always takes me 
two three days to get Hiram cooked up full. 
He’s that silly over my things he pretends he 
could eat them constant, any hour I’ll set ’em 
before him. Brother, hand me my chair, 
please. I can’t bother with crutches when 
I’m in a hurry.” 

The sawyer obediently brought a slat-bot- 
tomed chair and held it while his sister placed 
her knee upon it and strapped it securely. 
Then she started across the room as briskly as 
if the chair were a human foot, though a noisy 
one ; and remarking : 

“I do wish, Hiram Smith, that you’d put 
some leather tips on the legs of this chair. It’s 
just the right height and good and strong, but 
noisy ! I can’t hear myself think ! Now I’ll 
stir up the biscuit and you stir up the fire and 
— Gaily put the kettle on, Gaily put the ket- 
tle on, and we’ll all drink tea ! ” 

Off she went, thumpety-thump, to the tiny 


Aunt Sarah at the Mill 


213 


lean-to behind the living-room ; and presently 
her voice came back to them, humming the 
doggerel, or catch word : 

“ ‘ Betsey Benson built a fire to bake a batch 
o’ biscuit — bake a batch o’ biscuit — batch- 
a-baker-biscuit — batch-a-bitch-a-bake-a-bitch- 
kuit ! ’ Give it up ! Such a twist to my 
tongue ! ” she laughed, like a child at 
play. 

Then that other old child, her brother, took 
up the theme with the legend of “ Theophilus 
Thistle the successful thistle sifter,” but broke 
down more ignominiously than Aunt Sarah 
had done, and handed it on to Gail, who, be- 
fore she realized it was retorting about the 
“ Sally she sells sea-shells,” and in a moment 
all were laughing. It was the veriest non- 
sense, of course, but it had answered its pur- 
pose ; it had roused the girl from that constant 
dwelling upon her grief which was so bad for 
her. Now she was shocked to think that she 
could laugh, and though she wept no more, 
she grew grave and thoughtful as she moved 
about, helping the sawyer to “ set the house 
to one side,” or, in other words, get the table 
ready for supper. 


214 


The Heroine of Roseland 


Then, while they sat down to wait the bak- 
ing of the biscuit, she asked : 

“ Uncle Hiram, will you think I’m too curi- 
ous if I ask what made Aunt Sarah lame ? ” 

“ Bless your heart, honey, didn’t you never 
know? Why, how strange that is. I thought 
everybody did that knows us. Wait, let her 
tell. Here she comes. Sarah, Gail doesn’t 
know what set you to hopping around the 
world with a chair strapped to your knee. 
Wonderful, how she does hop, too. Up-stairs 
and down cellar, ‘ around the house, around 
the house, and into my lady’s chamber.’ 
Fact. There ain’t a spot big enough to let a 
chair into that she don’t put it, housekeepin’. 
Tell, sister, how’t happened.” 

Mrs. Tibbetts slipped the strap around on 
her chair, made a deft movement, and seated 
herself upon it. 

“ There, ma’am ! It’s one of my blessings 
that wherever I go I always have something 
to sit on ! Well, I’m beat that you never 
knew. And I suppose it all came of what my 
rough-spoken brother here calls cantankerous- 
ness. That’s a long word and it’s dragged a 
long tail behind it. It happened, or it was 


Aunt Sarah at the Mill 


215 


allowed, just after I was left all alone in my 
farmhouse. I’d come home from the last 
funeral that went out from it and I was des- 
perate. I didn’t care if I lived or died ; and I sat 

down in my husband’s empty chair and 

Well, the wicked, rebellious thoughts went 
through my brain won’t bear repeating. Just 
then, out barn way, rose the biggest kind of a 
racket, the hired man hallooing, dogs bark- 
ing, horses neighing — you’d thought the world 
was coming to an end. I was feeling as if it 
had come to an end, truly, for me and my 
happiness and, at first, I didn’t budge. Then 
I heard one particular kind of a neigh that 
I knew was given by Nimrod, the colt my 
husband was breaking just before he was 
killed.” 

“ Killed, Aunt Sarah ? was — he — killed ? ” 
asked Gail, awe-struck. 

“ Sure. He’d been getting in hay and the 
loft was full. So he opened the door in it 
and braced it back with a heavy rail. There 
was a terrible wind blowing, the rail slipped 
and struck him and — that was all.” 

“ How horrible ! ” 

“ Some think so. I did once. I know bet- 


216 The Heroine of Roseland 


ter now. He was taken home without ever 
growing old or feeble or any suffering. And 
he was prepared. If ever a woman had a 
good example set her it was I with my hus- 
band. ’Twasn’t his fault I had the temper of 
a wildcat. But — how I got this crooker, here ! 
That’s what I set out to tell. So, when I 
heard Nimrod squeal I knew he was being 
maltreated and that made me mad. I couldn’t 
stand that anything he’d ever loved should 
be hurt, so I ran out to the barn and, after 
all, it was the colt’s own fault. He’d been so 
used to husband’s feeding he resented being 
fed by another ; and when, as was right, the 
hired man hitched him up to the light sulky 
to drive a bit, lest he forget all he’d been 
learned, why the silly creature began to act 
as mean as he could — kick, bite, rear, whirl 
round and round in the sulky so fast one 
wheel couldn’t touch ground, and cut up 
generally. It came through me that he was 
the very colt-picture of the way I was feeling 
in my own heart and I made up my mind I’d 
fix him ! So, despite the hired man’s op- 
posing me, I managed to get into that sulky, 
somehow, and the reins into my hands. I 


Aunt Sarah at the Mill 


217 


was a good deal more supple them days than 
now and not nigh so hefty, but I’d been used 
to dairy work and I had a pair of strong 
wrists. So I just headed Nimrod for the gate 
and says I : ‘ Now, you young scamp, if it’s 
exercise you need it’s plenty of it you’ll get. 
Up and down Schunnemunk Mountain you 
go till you’re tired and find out there’s some- 
body boss, even yet. Your master reckoned 
you’d fetch a thousand dollars, once you was 
raised, and he needed just that to pay off the 
farm mortgage. So, sir, you’ve got to pay it ! 
You shan’t spoil his plans just because you’re 
mean tempered. Now, go ! ’ 

“ Well, Gaily, go he did ! I don’t know 
how many times I drove him right up that 
steep mountain, whirled around and down 
again, up and down, till he got so tired he 
could hardly breathe. Then I started home 
and crossing the bridge over the stream that 
ran before my own dooryard Nimrod took his 
revenge. Reared all of a sudden, like he’d 
been stung, flirted the sulky as if it had been a 
feather, and pitched me over the bridge-rail 
into the water. Broke both my legs, that fall 
did, and one healed straight and the other 


2 1 8 The Heroine of Roseland 


crooked ; and that’s all. Except that I had 
lots of time to do a deal of thinking while I 
was strapped to a bed waiting for those broken 
bones to set, and I hope, I hope, I’ve been a 
different woman ever since. I know I’ve 
tried to be.” 

“ What became of that wicked colt? ” 

Aunt Sarah laughed in a way that was good 
to hear. Then answered, 

“ Maybe you’ll think I’m notional when I 
say he was so shocked by what he’d done that 
he behaved like a gentleman all the rest of 
his days. True ; though the hired man 
claimed it was the terrible driving I’d given 
him took the nonsense out of him. No mat- 
ter. No two people see from the same point 
of view. He was a splendid horse, and when 
he was a few years older he was sold and paid 
off the mortgage just as husband thought he 
would. A race-track man bought him and 
made lots of money on him. Hiram P. Smith, 

here, done that business for me ; and 

Whew ! I smell the biscuit ! I’m afraid they’re 
burned as black as my shoe. Moreover, 
brother Hiram, there’s a queer old man peek- 


Aunt Sarah at the Mill 219 

ing in through that shed as if he wanted 
something. 7 ' 

He did. He was Tommy's “ ogre " and 
what he wanted was a girl. 


CHAPTER XIV 


LESSON LEARNING 

Gail stayed two whole weeks at the sawmill. 
None from home came to see her, but she met 
more people than in all her life before. Not 
a day but there were visitors, for a few min- 
utes or a few hours, as the case might be, and, 
at first, she shrank from these strangers and 
fled to the woods on the hillside. Later, she 
began to realize that they were not really 
strangers, but her own townspeople, whom she 
had frequently seen upon the streets but had 
classed under a general head as “ outside 
folks.” 

“ Now, Aunt Sarah, I find they’re inside 
folks, instead. It’s odd how well they all 
seem to know me, but I suppose that’s because 
fa — Uncle Philibert has been the school- 
master. And — and they’re so sort of human, 
too ! They think things and talk things just 
as, well, as we do at home. Some of them 
talk almost cleverly, almost like the Dominie 
or Mr. Barlow.” 


220 


221 


Lesson Learning 

“ Good. Very, very good. I have hopes of 
a person who realizes that all the smartness of 
this world isn’t shut up in his or her own 
body. It’s human nature, as you call it, to 
be a bit conceity ; to feel sort of know-it-all ; 
but it’s higher developed human nature to 
regard one’s neighbors in the world as being 
just a little wiser than one’s self.” 

Gail opened her eyes in amaze. She was 
often being amazed by the words which fell 
from the lips of this old farm-wife, who had 
had but scanty education — by way of books — 
yet who had grown so wise, so gentle, and so 
generously charitable in her judgments. And 
at last she asked : 

“ How did you learn all this, dear Aunt 
Sarah ? ” 

“ The ‘ all ’ is pitifully little, deary ; but 
how I learned that little is plain as ABC. 
I’ve had sixty years’ time ; and I’ve kept my 
heart and eyes open, my hand ready to what- 
ever task, and my lips shut. Keeping a 
body’s lips shut and letting other folks do the 
talkin’, is a sight easier way of learning than 
studying a spelling book. Why, child alive, 
there isn’t even a half-witted creature but can 


222 


The Heroine of Roseland 


teach me something ; and the amount other, 

smarter ones can teach My ! it’s simply 

overpowering. The trouble is, life’s too short to 
get much further than the alphabet in the 
book of wisdom, but even that’s something. 
Now, who of all the folks came here to-day, 
to get a lift out of their worriments, struck 
you most ? ” 

“ The fretty wife of that silly man who 
bought the 1 bugger-wagon ’ with Uncle 
Hiram’s money. She seemed to need some- 
thing to brace her up. Then if she were 
braced I fancied she could brace her husband, 
and between them she’d grow to be something 
more than a fussy invalid. I liked her, de- 
spite all, and she was mighty pretty.” 

Aunt Sarah threw back her own handsome 
head and laughed heartily. 

“ Content yourself, honey, but she’s going 
to get her 1 brace.’ I’ve invited her out to the 
farm to stay a spell. She’ll be a different 
woman when she leaves it.” 

“ You’ve invited her, a stranger, and } 7 ou so 
lame? Company means extra work ” 

“ Oh ! she’ll have to do that herself. I’m 
going to give my hired girl a vacation, soon’s 


Lesson Learning 223 

I get home. My visitor will have to help, a 
fair share, or she’ll go hungry. She’s had too 
much cossetting, and she needs contradicting. 
She’ll get it. When I don’t wait on her, hand 
and foot, she’ll realize what a bond-slave she’s 
made of her husband. Then she’ll learn what 
’tis to lose a husband, and — I calculate enter- 
taining her will be about the hardest job I’ll 
have to tackle this summer and the most 
charitable. I may even have to break my 
chair or lose a crutch to accomplish her mak- 
ing-over — though that’s so much like deceiv- 
ing I’ll leave it till the last resort. And, I’m 
not denying I rather dread her visit,” and 
Mrs. Tibbetts sighed softly, foreseeing the 
“ upsetting ” of her own peaceful home. 

“ Then, dear Aunt Sarah, don’t have her. 
Tell her you’ve changed your mind.” 

“ Trouble is, deary, my mind isn’t the 
changeable kind — like the waist that woman 
had on ; and once it’s pointed out a way for 
me to help some other body walk a little 
straighter ’long the road of life, I have to fol- 
low that way whether or no. A changeable 
mind is mighty handy to have — for them as 
know how to manage one. But I don’t. The 


224 


The Heroine of Roseland 


woman’s invited. The woman will come ; and 
I shall do the best I can, according to my lights. 
Now, enough of her. Don’t let’s waste any 
more of our precious last day together on her. 
Let’s go out into the woods and visit with the 
trees. Hiram P. Smith’s lot in life is a pleas- 
ant one. ’Tisn’t everybody can have both 
trees and river to talk with night and day. 
But he deserves it. He’s a good man and his 
advice is worth following.” 

Gail winced. Her friend intended that she 
should ; for the girl had decided to enter a 
mill as a worker, to earn the mone}^ to pay 
board to some one, and to show everybody 
concerned that she knew she belonged to 
nobody and could live independently, if she 
tried. The old man whom Mrs. Tibbetts had 
espied “ peeking,” on the first night of this 
visit, had been her great-uncle Joram. He 
had come to offer her a home at “ Big House,” 
as soon as he was settled there ; but she was 
not then free from the influence of her adopted 
father ; and believing, as he did, that the old 
man had injured her own unknown father, had 
indignantly declined this offer. Whereupon 
Mr. Joram Graham had departed in high dudg- 


Lesson Learning 225 

eon and been seen no more. He was, evi- 
dently, a person accustomed to having his 
favors accepted at once and not apt to renew 
them when rejected. 

Gail could not readily forgive the school- 
master for what she considered his great de- 
ception ; nor, indeed, could she conquer her 
love for him any more easily. Absence from 
the household at Roseland had told her how 
dear beyond words was each and every member 
of it, and how she missed them. Nor could she 
forget their constant devotion to her beloved 
Jerry. All her love pulled her homeward as 
her pride pushed her from it, and the nearest 
she and Uncle Hiram had ever come to 
quarreling had been concerning this very 
matter. 

“ Well, I declare I Fm cruel disappi’nted in 
you, Abigail Graham ! The idee ! Just because 
when you was a baby in arms, the man that 
took you to raise like his own child, didn’t 
choose to blat it out to the whole world that 
you wasn’t hisn, you must cut and run soon’s 
you get old enough to be a mite of use. 
Huh ! ” 

“ But, Uncle Hiram, you don’t understand. 


226 The Heroine of Roseland 


Nobody does. Nobody could but Jerry and 
— he’s gone, he’s gone ! ” 

When she broke into those paroxysms of 
grief her loving old friend could say no more ; 
but now it had come to the last day of her 
visit and he had urged his sister to use both her 
influence and his in making Gail see things 
aright for herself. As a last resort, she was to 
be reminded that she had no right over her- 
self, save such as the law allowed. Her uncle 
was her guardian and could prevent her “ wild 
scheme ” if he chose. But what her faithful 
hosts desired, was that she could see the right 
for herself and do it. 

Out in the woods, Aunt Sarah dropped her 
crutches and herself beside the little spring 
which was so famous in all the countryside. 
The rocky basin where it bubbled emptied it- 
self in one small stream ; but she began to 
scrape away the soil that bordered this stream, 
and to make other channels for the overflow. 
Gradually, not only the near-by ground was 
watered but the moisture spread far and wide ; 
till leaves and ferns which had drooped in the 
heat of the day, were refreshed and straight- 
ened visibly. After a little time of silence 


Lesson Learning 227 

the woman looked into the girl’s face and 
smiled. 

“ Why did you do that, Aunt Sarah ? 
Wasn’t the one overflow sufficient? ” 

“ Let’s call it an allegory,” she answered, 
turning her observant gaze upon the reviving 
ferns. 

“ Of what is it an allegory ? I used to love 
them best of all my Sunday-school books.” 

“ Well, call it that of 1 The Happiness 
Spreader.’ The spring is the source, the one 
little outflowing stream was what you call 
4 sufficient.’ Sufficient for itself. It made 
quite a hullaballoo and racket, chattered so 
loud it fairly shut out all other sounds but its 
own. Was so satisfied that it didn’t notice the 
half-dying things about it nor cared at all for 
their suffering. Then I came with my stick 
of correction and made a lot of trouble for it. 
It rebelled at first, did you see ? Bubbled and 
fussed and wasn’t at all obedient to my will. 
But when it found my will was stronger than 
its selfishness it gave up and flowed where I 
ordered. Don’t you suppose that if this little 
stream could speak it would thank me for 
teaching it a broader, kinder way ? Can’t you 


228 The Heroine of Roseland 


fit it to your own altered life ? Can’t you be- 
come a ‘happiness spreader/ as Jerry 
wishes ? ” 

“ O Aunt Sarah ! how did you know that ? 
That it was right here on this very spot, al- 
most, he said that very same thing to me? ” 

“ Deary, I did not know, but I can easily 
believe he did. That would be like the brave, 
bonny lad I knew.” 

Gail was weeping softly, now, remembering 
the picture of her frail, handsome twin, and al- 
most hearing his dear voice repeating the 
words he had spoken that unforgotten day 
they had spent in these woods. 

“ Making people happy is the best thing to 
wish for.” “ Living beautifully is better than 
making beautiful statues.” “ To make every- 
body happy is, also, to make everybody good.” 
“ You must make others happy — for us both 
— you who have the time and strength.” 

“ Happy ! How can heart-broken I make 
anybody glad? Oh, Aunt Sarah, how can I ? 
I want to do everything Jerry liked or 
wished ” 


“ Say wishes, not wished, darling. His in- 


Lesson Learning 229 

fluence must hold you still although his weak, 
earthly heart has ceased to beat.” 

“ But how can I ? Show me the way. I’m 
not wise as he was, nor as you, nor — nor any- 
body else. I’m just a lonely, desolate, orphan 
girl ! ” 

“You wanted all the water from the spring 
of Jerry’s love to flow through your heart 
alone. He wants it spread wide, to enrich 
other hearts, and you can please him only by 
breaking away the hindering soil of selfish- 
ness and letting that love filter through the 
needy lives around you. You can do it, I 
know. Else you are not my own and Jerry’s 
Gail ! ” 

There was a ring of confidence in the other’s 
voice that gave some courage to the girl’s soul, 
and sitting h there with head bowed on her 
knees, she began to see the circumstances of 
her life as she had not done before ; and to 
realize that everything worth while had not 
come utterly to an end, as she had believed. 
Jerry had left her something to do. She was 
to take up Jerry’s work and carry it on — for 
him ! There was a world of comfort in the 


230 


The Heroine of Roseland 


very thought, and what would there not be in 
the deed — if she were strong enough, as he 
had fancied, to carry it out ! 

Suddenly she lifted her head and gazed out- 
ward through the forest, as if wrapt in visions 
of the future, a future made glad for many 
people because of Jerry — through her ! And 
seeing this altered, glorified expression on the 
dear young face she loved so well, Aunt Sarah 
clambered to her crutches and stole away. 
She made noise enough, so doing, to frighten 
away an adventurous squirrel, for in her lame- 
ness it was impossible to move with absolute 
quiet, but Gail did not hear. Fora longtime 
she sat on, alone, thinking, thinking, and 
with her heart growing braver if not happier 
with each succeeding moment, and no one 
came to interrupt. 

When Aunt Sarah stumped into the open 
shed of the sawmill she found the sawyer sit- 
ting dejectedly on a pile of logs, busily whit- 
tling a stick. Whittling, and especially whit- 
tling with that energy, was significant, and his 
wise sister promptly interpreted it. 

“ Now, Hiram P., you needn’t be so savage 
mad at that poor little basswood splinter, and 


Lesson Learning 231 

try to make it bear the blame of things not 
going to suit you. Because they are going to 
suit. I’ve left Gaily Graham out under the 
trees with a 1 bee in her bonnet.’ Other 
words, with an idea in her head that’ll buzz 
around and make things lively for her till she 
falls to and sets that idea a-makin’ honey. 
Her head’s a good sized one, reckoning by 
sense-measurement, and that bee-idea is Jerry’s 
own. That’s the charm of it. ‘ For Jerry ! ’ 
There ought to be product of a good bit of 
happiness-honey to spread on some dry, crusty 
lives. She’s on the right road, at last, and 
’twas our Jerry led her there. When she 
comes in, as she will by and by, take no notice 
of anything. Just get up now and start a 
brisk fire. It’s early for supper, but I set the 
time for my limpsy visitor that is to go home 
with me, and I’d like to give our precious girl 
a good square meal first. Then I’ll borrow 
the ‘ bugger-wagon ’ and drive her to Roseland 
myself.” 

“ Roseland ? Has she made up her mind to 
go back there, or have you made it up for 
her? Last I heard tell she was bound, hot 
foot, for Parson Barlow’s, to stay * till she 


2 32 The Heroine of Roseland 

could get a place in a mill/ The disapp’intin’ 
creatur’ ! ” 

“ I said Roseland. I didn’t say the parson- 
age, and I did say no questions asked nor 
comments made. What I want made is a fire. 
A boy came along this morning, whilst you 
and she were out, and fetched a quart of 
strawberries. Said they was raised under 
glass, to his folkses’. His pa is the gardener 
to * Big House,’ and he was taking them to 
town to sell. I bought ’em, and if you ever 
could get off that log — shortcake ! ” 

She merrily shouted the magic word at him, 
with a gesture of “ shooing ” chickens, and as 
if he were a startled fowl he flapped his arms, 
crowed, and sped to the wood-pile ; then Aunt 
Sarah hastened into the kitchen and soon 
there issued thence the savory odor of her 
brother’s favorite dish. She trusted that 
when Gail returned she would fail to observe 
the novelty of strawberry shortcake thus early 
in the season, or to question whence it came. 
She was also resolved to announce the fact, 
should it be demanded ; for if one good thing 
could come from “ Big House,” why not an- 
other ? And it had vexed her kindly, thrifty 


Lesson Learning 233 

soul that the family at Roseland should be at 
odds with the lonely old man who might have 
well befriended them. 

However, Gail asked no questions. She 
strolled into the mill kitchen like one scarcely 
conscious of things about her, so deeply ab- 
sorbed was she in her own thoughts. Pleas- 
ant, helpful thoughts, evidently ; for she had 
not looked so happy, so like the old familiar 
favorite, since her sorrow fell ; and she entered 
into the merry spirit of the hour that followed 
in a way to cause Uncle Hiram to toss both 
knife and basswood splinter into the waste 
basket. 

“ Oh ! I like this sort of a picnic meal ! 
it’s too early for supper and too late for 
dinner. Just a delightful, delicious betwixt- 
and-between — better than either ! Are you 
really going to drive me home in the fa- 
mous 1 bugger- wagon/ Aunt Sarah? How 
lovely ! ” 

The sawyer winked at his sister when the 
word “ home ” fell from the girl’s lips, but she 
frowned and shook her head ; whereat he be- 
came so grave that Gail, looking up, observed 
and inquired : 


2 34 


The Heroine of Roseland 


“ What makes you so unhappy, Uncle Hi ? 
Have I done anything I shouldn't?” 

a Not a thing. Not a thing ! But can you 
blame an old feller for feelin' nigh heart- 
busted when he's goin' to lose the best cook 
as well as his best adopted, out of his house to 
one click? What you think this kitchen'll 
look like to me, with you two gone out of it ? 
More’n that. Here have I been loafin' round, 
doing nigh-hand to nothin’ for two mortal 
weeks, and now — I've got a job — a big one — 
and must go to work. There's to be a power 
of fixin'-up done to 4 Big House,' though it’s 
in fine order a'ready seems if, and I've got the 
lumber contract. And who do you think 
got it for me? Guess.” 

Gail had frowned at the mention of “ Big 
House,” but had done so half consciously ; 
now she cleared her brow and tried to show a 
real interest. After all, even if great-uncle 
Joram's presence in Millville was hateful to 
her, it needn't be so to other people. 

“ I can’t,” said Aunt Sarah. 

“ Nor I ; unless it might be the minister,” 
added Gail. 

“ Nary one nor t’other. Last creatur' you’d 


Lesson Learning 235 

ever suspicion. It was our little Tommy ! ” 
Then, as if he had said more than he intended, 
he suddenly paused, nor would he add an- 
other word of explanation, though he had 
aroused the curiosity of his hearers to the ut- 
most. 


CHAPTER XV 


HOME-COMING — HOME-LEAVING 

Though none had gone from Roseland to 
the sawmill during the fortnight of Gail’s 
visit there, her family had not been without 
almost daily knowledge of her. The sawyer 
made frequent stops at his friends’ door leav- 
ing the latest news — not always pleasant to 
the Dominie and his wife. Her indignation 
at her “ deception ” was not softened by Uncle 
Hiram’s recital, for he really feared she would 
do some foolish, desperate thing which would 
involve them all in fresh and useless sorrow. 
Trouble was already heavy on the Roseland 
household and it angered him to think she 
would wilfully add to it by asserting her girl- 
ish “ independence.” On the other hand he 
was vexed by Mr. Graham, whose secrecy in 
the matter of Gail’s and Jerry’s parentage, he 
privately considered as great a “ deception ” 
as she did, even though he would not have 
admitted this to her. He had prepared them 

236 


Home-Coming — Home-Leaving 237 

to find her rebellious and difficult when they 
met, and it was therefore a great surprise, as 
the buggy whirled up to the door, to see her 
spring lightly from it and rush toward the 
house, with arms extended and beaming face, 
crying : 

“ Father ! mother ! Tommy darling — Lu ! 
Oh ! how glad I am to see you all ! How 
sweet to be at home ! ” 

The schoolmaster felt his heart lightened of 
half its burdens as his arms closed about her 
slender waist and he found her dark curls 
once more brushing his cheek. Nor was the 
house-mistress less gratified by the unlooked 
for brightness with which she was seized, 
hugged, and greeted : 

“ Dear little motherkin ! You’re as 1 pretty 
as a picture ’ to my homesick eyes. Have you 
missed me any ? I’ve had a dear visit and — 
and I hope it’s done me good. Inside good, 
you know.” 

Then, as the elders went outside to speak 
with Mrs. Tibbetts, Gail drew Luella and 
Tommy to her with an ecstatic little hug for 
each, and the demand : 

“ Now begin, you dears, and tell me every- 


238 The Heroine of Roseland 

thing. Every single thing that’s happened 
since I went away. Is the menagerie all 
right ? Where got you that lovely hair rib- 
bon, mistress Lu? And Tom, how’s the 
treasury ? ” 

“ Don’t squeeze me so tight, Gail. You 
muss my apron and it’s just fresh. I earned 
that ribbon — think of that ! I tatted a collar 
for Mrs. Sampson and she paid me twenty- 
five cents for it. Now, miss ! Will you laugh 
at my trimming after this?” demanded Lu- 
ella, releasing herself from the too demon- 
strative embrace. 

“ No, deary, I shall not. I feel as if I could 
never, never again laugh at you, or anybody. 
But I hope we’ll laugh together — forever and 
a day ! Are you glad to have me back, little 
girl?” 

“ Yes. I shan’t have to sleep alone. I 
didn’t like it much. I was afraid. So afraid 
sometimes that mother put Tom’s cot in our 
room but he was no good. Why, that boy he 
goes to sleep the minute he’s in bed, and even 
before ! One night he went to sleep saying 
his prayers. Wasn’t that awful ? ” 

“ Pretty bad ! ” returned Gail, drawing 


Home-Coming — Home-Leaving 239 

closer to her the little lad who represented all 
of brotherhood she was henceforth ever to 
know ; and who clung to her with unre- 
strained joy at her return. At Luella’s 
reproof he had hung his sunny head, but only 
for a moment ; then he lifted his face and 
flashed upon her one of his bewitching smiles 
that rendered his rather soiled countenance 
perfectly cherubic in her eyes. 

Luella’s withdrawal had hurt — just a trifle. 
She had almost forgotten the little girl’s prac- 
tical and selfish nature, and had resolved to 
still regard as sister the child who was but a 
cousin. All battles with her own self had not 
been fought, up there on the hillside, and she 
had to fight a brief one now before she re- 
marked : 

“You certainly are a clever-fingered crea- 
ture, Lady Lu ! I wish I were half as deft with 
a needle or crochet hook, and I’m glad I’m 
back to protect you of a night. Though of 
what should you possibly be afraid ? ” 

“ I — I don’t — know ; only Mattie, Mattie 
Barlow said she wouldn’t like to sleep in a 
house where’d been a — funeral.” 

“ O Lu ! Don’t, don’t ! As if Jerry, our 


240 


The Heroine of Roseland 


loving, tender Jerry, could ever frighten any- 
body ! Oh ! that is dreadful ! ” 

Despite her will the tears came rushing to 
poor Gail's eyes and blinded by them she let 
Tom lead her swiftly out of the house and into 
the beloved greenhouse. There she broke 
down completely, forgetful of unspoken fare- 
wells to Aunt Sarah, forgetful of everything 
save her own bitter loss. 

It was wholly natural that familiar scenes 
should have brought it freshly back, even 
without Luella’s thoughtless words ; and the 
grown folk who had witnessed her headlong 
rush across the lawn both understood and re- 
spected her emotion. Even Tommy compre- 
hended and scowled fiercely upon his sister as 
he guided Gail’s footsteps to the familiar ham- 
mock and gently pushed her into it. Then 
he sat down beside her and held her tight, 
tight, with his strong little arms till the shud- 
dering sobs which shook her grew less frequent 
and at length ceased altogether. 

When she looked down upon him and wanly 
smiled, he responded loyally : 

“ Don’t you mind the Trimmer. She don’t 
mean to be mean. I’ll take care of you good. 


Home-Coming — Home-Leaving 241 

Just like I did all the menag’. I didn’t let 
nothing starve, not a thing. I only — only — 
wull, the white mice hadn’t no sense, less they 
wouldn’t have got sick just ’cause — but they’re 
all right now. I didn’t forget but once. I 
shan’t never again. But it’s awful lonesome 
here without you an’ — without you, I mean. 
That’s why I run away.” 

“ You ran away, Tommy ? Why ? Where ? 
When?” 

“ To — to the whenny man’s. To big-uncle 
Joram’s to the tavern where he lives. He — 
he — wull ” 

Tommy paused. Evidently he found it dif- 
ficult to explain matters, even to this loving 
sister. She had such clear brown eyes ! the 
kind “ that looks right through a feller and 
sees to the bottom of him,” as he had once 
stated to his beloved Jimmy Barlow. And, 
at that, the memories at “ the bottom ” of 
Thomas Jefferson Graham were not comfort- 
ing. 

Then, in another moment, the brown eyes 
looked away and around at the familiar 
things and the sisterly arm drew the little 
chap still closer, while to him it seemed as 


242 The Heroine of Roseland 

if Jerry, also, were present smilingly demand- 
ing : 

“ The truth, small laddie ! 1 The truth, the 

whole truth, and nothing but the truth/ mas- 
ter Tom ! ” 

Jerry’s will had been paramount and he had 
always answered its demands with perfect sin- 
cerity. The good thing about Jerry was — had 
been — that he always understood a “ feller.’' 
That’s ’cause he was a boy himself. But a 
girl 

The brown eyes came back to gaze into that 
hidden soul of his, but now so gently, so lov- 
ingly, that instantly all fear vanished, and 
out rushed the whole matter, “ body and 
bones.” 

“ Wull, Gail, father he said I mustn’t never, 
never have no more to say to big-uncle 
Joram, ’cept just < good mornin’,’ or ‘good 
day.’ He didn’t want no intry course ’twixt 
him an’ us, father didn’t. ‘ Not for the pres- 
ent,’ he said. I never seen no present, I 
hadn’t, only that ten cents I was give and I 
don’t believe father meant that. Wull, sir, 
one day I got so lonesome seems if I’d bust ; 
so I got my fishin’-tackle an’ went down to 


Home-Coming — Home-Leaving 243 

Pompses’ Eddy, all by myself, ’cause Jimmy 
he’d been bad an’ sassed his aunt and wasn’t 
let to go ; and I hadn’t been fishin’ long ’fore 
I heard somebody say : 1 Kerchew ! ’ just like 
that. All of a sudden he sneezed so’t I nigh 
fell off the log into the eddy. An’ I looked 
up sort of mad ’bout bein’ scared, and there 
’twas nobody but the whenny man. An’ then 
he laughed an’ said : ‘ Scared you, son, did I ? 
Thought you had this corner of the world all 
to yourself, didn’t you ? ’ So then I laughed, 
too, and said yes. He’s a real nice man — 
when he keeps his hat on. An’ then he asked 
if I’d had any luck and course I had to tell I 
hadn’t. I couldn’t say just ‘good morning’ 
to a question like that, could I ? ” 

“ Hardly. But go on.” 

“ There wasn’t much go on. When two 
fishers get together they can’t help talkin’, 
can they? He hadn’t had no luck neither. 
Our lucks hadn’t begun yet, but they did 
right soon an’ I fetched a mess of fish home 
an’ mother she cooked ’em for dinner. That 
was the first fresh meat we’d had for two 
three days, an sir they was the best fish you 
ever tasted ! ” 


244 The Heroine of Roseland 

“ I believe it, dear. Bat haven’t — haven’t 
you had the usual things to eat since I’ve been 
gone ? ” asked Gail, perplexed. 

“ We haven’t had too much, I guess. 
Mother says we’re econermizin’ an’ seems if 
that means goin’ hungry most the time.” 

“ Well, dear, we’ll talk of that later. I 
want to hear all about your running away and 
how much you have seen of our great-uncle 
Joram. Tell me everything and you’ll feel 
better— inside.” 

“ Gail, how’d you guess I didn’t feel nice 
in my insides? ” asked Tommy, surprised. 

“ I judged you by myself. If I’d run away 

and Maybe, I’ve done worse ! No matter, 

I know, I ‘ sym,’ ” she finished with a laugh, 
this having been the little boy’s expression 
when he had first begun to talk and had hurt 
himself in some tumble. “ I sympathize,” 
had been his parents’ assurance then, abbre- 
viated into “ sym ” b}^ his baby lips. 

“ Wull, I stayed there ever so long. Then I 
went to the tavern with him and he talked to 
me a lot. Say, Gail, I believe, I for truly do be- 
lieve that funny old man is ’most as lonesome 
as me an’ you is ’bout our Jerry. He talked 


Home-Coming — Home-Leaving 245 

like if he’d lived he’d have paid money, lots 
of money, to give him a ‘ chance.’ I mean 
Jerry the chance. He asked so many ques- 
tions I couldn’t hardly keep track nor answer 
more’n half. He coaxed me to go away up to 
‘ Big House ’ with him, where he’s goin’ to 
live, and he didn’t know — I didn’t know — I 
hadn’t been forbid. Gail, father never’d said 
a word about goin’ walkin’ with that man. 
Is walking uphill to ‘ Big House ’ the same 
as havin’ intrycourse ? ” 

“ 0 Tommy, I fear it is ! But tell me all. 
Uncle Hiram began to say that you — you ! — 
had recommended him to furnish lumber for 
4 Big House.’ How did that happen ? ” 

“Why nohow; only, when we got up there 
an’ was lookin’ round like, big-Uncle Joram 
he said as how 4 honest men was few,’ but ‘ if 
he could find a honest man that had good 
wood planks to sell he’d buy some an’ have a 
new barn built.’ He’s goin’ to have a lot of 
cows an’ things that’ll cost lots. He used to 
be a little farmer boy, once, just think ! And 
now he’s goin’ to be a ‘ fancy farmer old boy’ 
again. An’ then he said the house was pretty 
big, but he guessed he could stan’ it. He’d 


246 The Heroine of Roseland 

‘ lived alone for a good many years an’ he 
thinks he can stick it out to the end.’ He 
said so. But ” 

“ But, Tommy, seems to me you must have 
seen great-uncle Joram more than once to get 
all this information.” 

“ Oh ! I have. I’ve seen him lots of times.” 

“ Then there’s been more than one ‘ running 
away ’ ! O my dear ! ” 

“ Wull — wull ” 

“ Little brother, why haven’t you told 
father ? Surely, you haven’t grown afraid of 
him just lately, when you’ve never been be- 
fore. Don’t you know that you’ve done 
wrong ? ” 

“ Abigail Graham ! ’Course I know it. 
That’s what makes my insides go all squirmy 
like when father looks at me sometimes. But 
I couldn’t tell. How dare I ? Why, once 
when mother she was feeling so dreadful poor 
an’ wonderin’ what would become of us all 
without father havin’ no school, and she said 
‘if Uncle Joram would help us’ — father he 
int’rupted same’s he’s told us wasn’t polite, 
and he said : ‘ Mary ! Please drop that sub- 
ject for all time. Never speak of him again, 


Home-Coming — Home-Leaving 247 

never ! ’ Just like that he said it. So, if he’d 
scold mother and make her cry, like she did 
then, how’d a little boy as me dare to tell 
things ? Huh ! I guess you’ve forgot how 
father looks when he talks that way. Huh ! ” 

They sat very still for a long time after that. 
Tommy was infinitely relieved by his confes- 
sion, and really felt that he had shifted all his 
faults and disobedience to her shoulders. 
There had been something delightful in his 
secret “ intrycourse ” with the old gentleman 
who was so entirely “ nice ” when he “ kept 
his hat on ” ; but there had, also, been a 
flavor to this delight which had been a little 
unpleasant. But now he felt better. He felt 
so much better that when he asked Gail if she 
should “ tell,” he hardly cared what punish- 
ment might follow ; and, of course, if he had 
made her his scapegoat that punishment 
should be hers, not his. He was not prepared 
to have that “ squirmy” feeling, of a guilty 
conscience, forced back upon him by her say- 
ing simply : 

“ Why, no, Tommy boy, I shan’t * tell.’ I 
couldn’t be a tattler. You will have to do 
your own telling. But now, let us take one 


248 The Heroine of Roseland 

look around and then go in. Oh ! how empty 
the old greenhouse is without my boy ! ” 

The heart of master Thomas Jefferson 
seemed to sink into his very copper- toes ! 
And his woe-begone face “ told ” for him that 
there were misdemeanors to be confessed to 
that father who now entered the greenhouse, 
just as they were leaving it. He cast one ter- 
rified, appealing glance toward his sister, who 
smiled encouragingly, and remarked : 

“ Brace up, laddie ! It’s like having a tooth 
out — get it over, quick ! ” 

Then she went away and Tommy looked 
into the questioning eyes of the schoolmaster 
and, presently, had made a clean breast of his 
“ secrets. ” This time his relief was lasting 
and his punishment not too severe. Indeed, 
as the father drew his little son upon his knee 
and listened to his tale, he felt his own heart 
greatly disturbed, and inward doubts of his 
own judgment made him lenient toward the 
repentant child. 

Meanwhile, Gail had entered the living- 
room and found her mother preparing the 
simple supper. The girl had resolved that 
there should be no change in her manner of 


Home-Coming — -Home-Leaving 249 

addressing her guardians. Though at first she 
had indignantly called them uncle and aunt, 
dropping the dearer titles, better, wiser 
thoughts had prevailed. They were the only 
parents she had or ever could know and they 
had acted the parts most unselfishly and ten- 
derly. The idea of “ happiness spreading ” 
was strong in her mind and with her old play- 
ful habit, she gently took the ladle from the 
housewife’s hand, saying : 

“ Why, motherkin ! I’m home, you know ; 
and whoever wielded the pudding-stick when 
I was handy by ? Smells good, your mush ! 
But what do you suppose we had up at the 
mill this very day, and so early in the year? ” 

“ I couldn’t guess, dear. Some of Mrs. 
Tibbetts’s fine cooking, no doubt. Anybody 
can cook nice things, though, if they have the 
money to pay for them. As for us, we must 
be thankful for a quart of Indian meal, now 
and again ! ” There was bitterness in the 
weary woman’s tone as there was fresh anxiety 
in her mind. She had been cautioned by her 
husband to keep a certain matter to herself, 
for a little while, but at sight of Gail’s loving, 
sympathetic face, caution fled and out came 


250 The Heroine of Roseland 

the prohibited news, without softening or 
preface. 

“ Abigail Graham, we have got to move. 
We must leave Roseland.” 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE SCIENCE OF DOING WITHOUT 

“ Leave Roseland ! Why ? ” 

“ Every ‘ why. 7 First, the place has been 
sold. The superintendent of the new mill, 
Uncle Joram’s mill, needed a house and 
bought this. We should never have had so 
fine a home but it was furnished the school- 
master by the board, which rented it cheap ; 
because when your father — uncle ” 

“ Let him still be my 1 father ’ and you my 
i mother/ please, if you are willing,” said the 
girl, with a little catch in her voice, and 
wondering if there were nothing but sorrow 
and disappointment in life. 

“ Surely, Gail. It suits us if it does you. 
I’ve tried to do ” 

“ You have, dear, you have ! No mother 
could be kinder than you have always been 
and I will try, too, to prove myself a helpful 
daughter. I used not to think about things — 
I just let them happen, any way. Now — I 
251 


252 The Heroine of Roseland 

mean to be different. Go on, please, about 
Roseland.” 

“ Only that when we came we were allowed 
to live here because there was no other place 
and it was cheap. Nobody else could be 
found to rent such a tumble-down affair, be- 
cause nobody who wanted a mansion would 
cramp themselves into the servants’ quarters, 
as we have done.” 

Mrs. Graham had sat down to rest, while 
Gail attended to the supper getting in her 
stead ; but the mush being now finished and 
the table ready, the girl, also, dropped down 
on the floor beside the other’s chair, and, with 
an effort, consolingly remarked : 

“ But, even so, we’ve been very happy here.” 

“ Yes. Fairly happy. You’ve been too 
young to realize some things. Yet, even serv- 
ants’ quarters seem far better than none. And 
what is to become of us I do not know ! 
Really, and truly, I cannot even guess. 
There isn’t a cottage to be had, although we 
had money to pay for one. I’ve tramped the 
town over, looking, and not one could I find. 
This spring has brought so many new oper- 
atives to Millville that not only is Factory 


The Science of Doing Without 253 

Street overcrowded but the work people have 
come up into High Street and are living at the 
rate of two or three families in a tenement. 
Oh! Millville itself is prosperous enough ! 
It’s only we who are so desperately poor and 
homeless.” 

Poor Gail ! It was going to be difficult to 
“ spread ” much “ happiness ” here ! And as 
to leaving Roseland, with its every nook and 
corner so full of memories of Jerry — she dared 
not think about that just yet. But she had 
observed one thing in Aunt Sarah’s conduct 
which helped her through that moment ; she 
always did something when she was troubled. 

“ I never sit down to a worry, Gaily. I 
find it’s better to get right straight up and 
thump around — doing something, no matter 
if I want to or not. Worries are like mould 
on cheeses ; grow fastest when the cheeses 
aren’t turned early and often,” the farm-wife 
had declared. 

“ It’s time for me to get up and turn my 
cheese ! ” she exclaimed, and bravely smiling 
into her mother’s puzzled face. “ In other 
words, the family mush is ready for the family 
and I’ll connect the two, if possible.” So out 


254 The Heroine of Roseland 

she ran to the greenhouse, summoned the 
Dominie and Tom ; then sought Luella — 
primping in her bedroom ; coaxed Mrs. Gra- 
ham to her place, but took her own stand be- 
hind the master’s chair, ready to serve. 

“ You see, I’ve had one picnic-dinner-sup- 
per this afternoon and it isn’t * econermy ’ to 
eat two on one day. Besides — those who eat 
the most mush can have the most cake and 
honey ! ” 

“What? What’s that you say, Abigail 
Graham ? ” demanded Tom, dropping his 
spoon with a clatter and receiving Luella’s 
instant reproof. 

“ Fact ! I have both in my satchel. Dear 
Aunt Sarah brought an extra lot of her 
strained honey to the sawyer and he protested 
that it gave him the toothache ! If it did, it 
was the sort of toothache that was easily 
cured, for it never lasted beyond the meal 
when we had honey on the table. Then, this 
very morning, that splendid, thoughtful 
woman made a loaf of cake for me to bring 
home * to the children,’ and if father and 
mother aren’t children enough to top off this 
mush supper with a piece of raisin cake — 


The Science of Doing Without 255 

chock full, Tommy boy, chock full of them ! 
— I’m disappointed in them. Now, swallow 
fast, laddie, while I unpack the goodies. Isn’t 
it fine to have an Aunt Sarah in the ‘ connec- 
tion ’ ? ” 

“ Yes, it’s fine ; but finer far to have our 
own dear daughter back, so brave and unsel- 
fish,” answered the schoolmaster, with such 
earnestness that the tears rushed again to the 
girl’s eyes, though this time they were tears of 
joy and gratitude. His few words covered a 
world of meaning. They told her that he had 
known all about her recent indignation and 
“ independence,” had forgiven it and rec- 
ognized the return of a better spirit ; and de- 
spite the ache in her heart, which seemed al- 
most unbearable when she glanced toward 
Jerry’s place, she was truly glad and thank- 
ful. 

Also, after the dishwashing, that again fell 
naturally to her charge, she sought the Dom- 
inie in the study and perched herself on the 
arm of his chair, in the old fashion and 
begged : 

“ Now, pater, you tell. Mother said we 
must move. She explained why, but I’d like 


256 The Heroine of Roseland 

to hear it over again from your dear lips. It 
will take more than one telling to make me 
realize leaving this home.” 

She resolutely refrained from looking 
toward the lounge where Jerry used to lie, 
and idly pulled nearer her the volume which 
the schoolmaster had been studying. Then 
she observed : 

“ Astronomy — the science that I was to be- 
gin upon this very next fall. Now, I guess 
Til have to take up, instead, the Science of 
Doing Without ! ” 

“ Aye, deary, that’s the science we must all 
achieve, I fear.” 

“ Well, why — fear ? It seems to me that — 
that since Jerry isn’t to suffer by the changes 
— they needn’t matter so much to us who are 
strong. Of course, I don’t mean to seem 
heartless and careless about you and mother, 
but there surely will be some way out. W T e 
can’t live in a tree, like the squirrels — but 
have you any plans?” 

“ None. I am sorry to admit it but I am 
as helpless as an owl in the sunlight. I can- 
not see ahead. We have just a little money 
left — a very, very little. We shall not actually 


The Science of Doing Without 257 

starve for a few weeks longer, thanks to your 
mother’s forethought. However she has man- 
aged to save anything from our small income 
is beyond me to understand. She is more ca- 
pable than I ” 

“ 0 father, no ! ” 

“ It is simply just. I have known books 
and a schoolroom. I am not sufficiently prac- 
tical to keep a ledger, even if I could secure a 
bookkeeper’s position, and there is none 
vacant here unless it might be in Joram Gra- 
ham’s new mill. I could not ask that nor 
endure to take his wage. In any case, — I 
shall never have the chance, even if I desired. 
In all my life I have not felt so doubtful of 
myself, so helpless in the face of the future. 
God knows what is to become of us, I don’t ! ” 

“ Yes, dear, He does know, He must. It 
isn’t by chance that sorrowful things come — 
wise Aunt Sarah says. She knows. She said 
one other curious thing : that she was more 
grateful for the griefs than the joys of her life. 
Well, I didn’t come to talk goody-good, even 
second-hand Mrs. Tibbetts-isms. To come back 
to our new science — I reckon the 1 first lesson 
for beginners ’ is to get rid of the menagerie. 


258 The Heroine of Roseland 

No roof for ourselves means no roof for 
them. 7 ’ 

“ Ah, I suppose so ! I confess the poor 
animals had not entered my thoughts. What 
will become of them ? 77 

“ I 7 m glad they didn’t enter. Leave them 
to me. I’ll find a home for every single pet. 
And, hark ! Isn’t that Luella calling ? She 
told me she didn’t like rooming alone ; so — 
I guess I’m hindering more than helping, and 
good-night, father dear ! ” 

Gail lay awake for a long time, pondering 
the coming changes in the family life and, in 
especial, making plans for the disposal of the 
beloved menagerie. She dreaded parting with 
any single creature of the “ troupe,” yet be- 
cause of her greater loss in Jerry’s death, she 
could be more patient concerning these lesser 
ones. In her mind she was just conveying 
the asthmatic canary back to Mrs. Mosher 
when 

“ Why, mother ! Is it possible you are call- 
ing us to breakfast? I — I fancied I hadn’t 
been asleep, at all ! ” 

“ Indeed you have. I’ve been up twice, 
but you both were so comfortable I hated to 


The Science of Doing Without 259 

disturb you. Now I must, so hurry and 
dress. I have to begin packing up this very 
day. Word has just come that Roseland will 
be required by the end of the week ; yet I do 
think we might have had a longer notice. 
That’s the way of the world, though ; when 
people are traveling down-hill others seem 
always ready to kick them further on.” 

Mrs. Graham’s tone was querulous and this 
an unpleasant beginning to what would prove 
a trying day, and, for a moment, poor Gail’s 
heart sank. Evidently, the grief which was 
still so fresh to her had become a thing of the 
past to others, and she was to be given no 
chance to indulge it ; and though this was 
quite in accordance with her own plans for 
“ happiness spreading ” she found herself re- 
senting this state of things. Then better 
thoughts prevailed, and with an inward re- 
flection upon what Jerry would have done 
under the same circumstances, she sprang 
lightly from the bed and responded : 

“ Well, don’t forget, mother dear, that if 
you have all this hard work before you I am 
here to help ! Such a helper I will prove — 
wait and see ! Come, Lu ! We’re all going 


260 The Heroine of Roseland 


to begin a new study this morning, so ‘ step 
lively, please ’ ! ” 

“Study, Gail Graham? What do you 
mean ? I hate study. Besides, it’s vacation 
for us, since father’s been put out of the school. 
I shan’t study anything, I tell you that.” 

“ Oh ! yes you will. I’m sure of it. You’ll 
be as much interested as anybody. Besides, 
it isn’t quite the fact that father was ‘ put out ’ 
— yet. I prefer to think he put himself out, 
instead. Can I help you ? ” 

Luella declined aid and Gail hurried below 
stairs, to find the Dominie had already break- 
fasted and was once more setting out house 
hunting. She did not suspect that finding a 
home was the more difficult for them because 
they no longer had any visible means of sup- 
port, nor that owners of tenements, even cheap 
ones, must satisfy themselves that their rent 
will be forthcoming when due. 

Tommy straggled in, unchided because of 
oversleeping, and the three sat down to their 
belated meal, while the house-mother departed 
above stairs to begin her disagreeable task of 
sorting and packing. The breakfast finished, 
Gail made short work of clearing up, then 


The Science of Doing Without 261 

summoned Tom and Luella to the green- 
house. 

“ Now, youngsters, the firm is assembled 
and the firm must consult. I ” 

“ What was that lesson you said we’d got 
to study? I asked mother and she didn’t 
know ; said she guessed it was some of your 
foolishness,” remarked Luella, immediately 
seating herself on the best box and producing 
her tatting. 

“ Oh ! but the dear woman was mistaken I 
Nobody has learned that lesson better than 
she. I call it ‘ The Science of Doing Without.’ 
We have all thought we knew it, too, but we 
didn’t. Now, it’s to become a part of the day’s 
work. Regular, no let up, no turn back, no 
sneaking. First and foremost : we have to 
‘ Do Without ’ the menagerie. We’ve got to 
get rid of every single pet and — do it to-day ! 
If that is possible. Now, let’s divide the la- 
bor. Luella, which of the animals — how 
many — will you undertake to find homes 
for ? ” 

“ I ? Not one. You needn’t ask me. The 
idea ! ” 

“ Why won’t you? Are you too lazy?” 


262 The Heroine of Roseland 


asked Gail, her too ready anger flaming at the 
supercilious toss of the little girl’s head. 

“ No, I’m not lazy. I’m a good deal more 
industrious and capable than you are. Mother 
says so. There now.” 

“ Luella, did she?” demanded the elder 
girl, deeply hurt. 

The yellow curls bent low over the bit of 
tatting and a flush dyed the round cheek be- 
neath them. All the Grahams had been 
trained to habits of strictest truthfulness and 
Luella knew that her statement was but par- 
tially correct. After a moment’s battle with 
herself, she amended it by saying : 

“ Well, about sewing and making trimming 
she did. But — but she said ” 

“ I know, Luella Graham. I heard her,” 
broke in Tommy, the loyal. “ I heard her 
say you was awful handy to help with the 
clothes an’ things but she’d never missed an} T - 
body like she missed our Gail. She said Gaily 
had been real sunshine till Jerry — you know ! 
I couldn’t tell what that was, ’bout any girl, 
just plain girl, bein’ ‘ sunshine.’ An’ I 
asked her; an’ she said — she said — wull, 
‘ Gail don’t never fuss ’bout so much mush 


The Science of Doing Without 263 

an’ so little cake/ an’ — an’ — lots of things, 
that way. An’ father, he spoke in an’ he 
said as how Gail has a 1 noble nature ’ and 
would ‘ come out all right in the end.’ I 
thought she was all right, without no ‘ cornin’ 
out/ ’cause I missed her, too, missed her 
terr’ble. An’ I think so now, Luella Graham, 
and I’d like to study the new book first-rate. 
I would so.” 

It was such a novelty to hear Tommy desire 
to study anything, and there was so much 
love shining from his blue eyes, that Gail gave 
him a hug and felt her anger vanish. 

“ Well, laddie, I reckon it’s a 4 study ’ that’s 
forced upon us rather than chosen, but we can 
rob it of half its hatefulness if we go at it, 
4 hammer and tongs/ as Uncle Hiram does the 
knotty lumber. What do you wish to dis- 
pose of, yourself? since Luella has left the job 
to us two.” 

“ I don’t wish none of ’em ; but I’ll make 
Jimmy Barlow take back the rabbits or — oi- 
l’ll know the reason why he don’t. He — he 
ain’t so nice a boy as he was, Jimmy ain’t. 
His aunt she went to Ne’ York an’ she fetched 
him home a autermobeel, an’ just ’cause I 


264 The Heroine of Roseland 

wanted to take the wheels off an’ see its in- 
sides, just a teeny tiny bit, he — he got mad. 
1 You go right straight home, Tommy Graham, 
an’ don’t you dast to never touch one my 
autermobeels again,’ he said. Just like that 
he said it, Jimmy — Jimmy Barlow ! ” 

“ O Tommy ! Has that Damon-and-Pyth- 
ias friendship suffered a rupture? ” cried Gail, 
laughing. “ What a pity ! Jimmy would be 
a great help just now.” 

“ Don’t need no help. Let’s have a nauc- 
tion ! They was a nauction up by the tavern, 
once; an’ the baker man he was the nauc- 
tioneer. My stars ! You’d ought to hearn 
him talk ! Fast ! You couldn’t keep up 
thinkin’ with what he said ; but the folks they 
bought things like everything. Me an’ father 
was cornin’ along an’ we stopped to listen ; an’ 
father he said some of ’em was foolish, ’cause 
they was coaxed to buy things they didn’t 
need. One woman she bought a horse, an’ she 
told father ’twas just ’cause it was cheap, an’ 
was old, an’ had been a family pet. An’ then 
he asked her did she have a wagon or a har- 
ness or a stable. An’ she hadn’t none. She’d 
got to buy them yet to go with the horse ; an’ 


The Science of Doing Without 265 

when she said it she was kind of scared, an’ 
father he told her better sell the horse back 
again, even if she was sorry for it. ’Twould 
be cheaper than all them other things and she 
did. An* my stars ! She got a dollar, a 
whole dollar more’n she paid ! An’ she was 
so tickled she said she’d put that in the church 
plate the very next Sunday ’t ever was an’ she 
thanked father real polite like. But if we 
sold our anermals we wouldn’t have to put 
money in the poor box, would we?” 

“ We couldn’t afford to. If any of them 
brought money we should give it straight to 
father and mother.” 

“ O pshaw ! Why ? ” 

“ Because, my boy, that would be a lesson 
in 1 Doing Without.’ Oh ! I don’t say it’s a 
pleasant study. You remember that, please. 
Now, I’m going to Mr. Sampson’s. If I can 
get his bookkeeping again, I’ll be glad, 
though I shan’t want cat-dog-meat for pay 
any more. Ah ! me ! The poor creatures ! 
What will become of them ? Who will love 
them as we have? But — this won’t do. 
Tommy, I think the auction idea isn’t half 
bad. Only we’ll have to ask father and 


266 The Heroine of Roseland 


mother about it first. We will, as soon as I 
come back, if he is at home then. Now, let’s 
feed them all round and I’ll go. Also, while 
I’m gone you keep on thinking — fitting ani- 
mals to folks, so to speak ; remembering who 
liked what, etc. Good-bye, both. That’s a 
pretty pattern you’re doing, Lu ; but I guess 
you’d better take your work into the house 
again, in case mother wants one of us. You 
can tell her where I’ve gone, though she her- 
self said that I ought to see the butcher. 
Good-bye.” 

Gail now wore without protest the simple 
black gown which Aunt George had provided. 
While she doubted if Jerry would have ap- 
proved anybody’s wearing “ mourning ” for 
him, she felt as if it were a tribute to his 
memory and suited her position as the nearest 
of kin. Besides, her clothes were the least of 
her troubles, and she had become used to their 
sombre color during her sojourn at the saw- 
mill. Aunt Sarah had unpacked them from 
the valise sent up to her from home, and had 
observed : 

“ The least a girl of your age can do is to 
obey her parents, and it seems to be their will 


The Science of Doing Without 267 

that you should wear these things. So I 
would. ” 

But if she had grown accustomed to her 
changed attire, others, her town acquaintances, 
had not ; and as she now entered the meat- 
shop, she was amazed to see Mrs. Sampson 
rush forward, hastily thrusting a handker- 
chief to her eyes, and to feel herself clasped 
in a vigorous hug, while the sympathetic 
woman exclaimed enigmatically : 

“ Oh ! it breaks my heart to see you ! Yet 
I’m tickled ’most to death ! Now there isn’t 
a single thing stands betwixt an’ between ! ” 


CHAPTER XVII 


SURPRISING STATEMENTS 

Gail wondered if Mrs. Sampson had sud- 
denly become bereft of reason, but she was to 
be further mystified : 

“ Now, come right away in, to the setting- 
room, an’ let’s talk it over. ’Tis just what 
I’ve always wanted an’ him, too, an’ ’twould 
be the nicest thing in the world for Delly. 
If I’d thought the world over I couldn’t 
have picked out one would suit all round no 
better. You’re a good age, over all your 

childern’s diseases You’ve had ’em, 

ain’t you ? ” 

“ What do you mean, please ? I fear I’m 
very stupid, but I don’t understand what you 
are talking about. I came to see Mr. Samp- 
son. Of course he understood why I — I had 
to drop the bookkeeping for so long, but I’d 
like to take it up again, if he will employ me. 
Is he at home ? ” 

“ No. He’s off slaughterin’. It’s his regu- 

268 


Surprising Statements 269 

lar day for it ; but you don’t need to see him. 
We’re both of one mind. We’ve talked it 
over an’ Delly, too. He’s awful tickled at the 
notion, Delly is, bless his heart ! He hain’t 
never had no sister, Delly hain’t, but he’ll 
treat you square. My ! That’s real nice bom- 
bazine, or parametty, your dress is made of. I 
shouldn’t want you to wear black a great while, 
an’ your Aunt George, she wouldn’t have to 
furnish no new ones. You’d look fine in red. 
Red would become your dark curls and brown 
eyes and your complexion, too. You’ll look 
real nice together, Delly an’ you, he bein’ so 
light and you so brunetty like. ’D you say 
you’d ever had the measles, or scarlet fever, or 
the mumps? ” 

“ I didn’t say ; but I believe I’ve had them 
all. I’ve had the whooping cough, too, if it 
would interest you to know,” answered Gail 
with some asperity. 

“ ’Course it int’rests. Anything about you 
does. I always thought you was real healthy. 
I shouldn’t have took the notion if you’d been 
the sickly one he ” 

The girl hastily rose. Of all the people she 
knew, this chattering woman was the last per- 


270 


The Heroine of Roseland 


son with whom she could discuss Jerry. It 
was she, indeed, who had first suggested the 
calamity which had befallen, and she could 
bear no more. 

But, at that instant, entered Adelbert, hang- 
ing shyly back near the door till, seeing her 
advance toward it, he misconstrued her action 
and hurried to meet her with extended hand. 

“ Why, Gail, I’m real glad to see you. How 
nice you look in them clothes all of a color ! 
I always thought you was the prettiest girl in 
Millville and now I know it. ’Twasn’t noth- 
ing but them mixed-up rigs you used to wear 
that spoiled your looks. Well, you an’ ma 
been talkin’ it over? When ’ll you come? 
Your folks have got to leave in a few days, 
hain’t they ? Too bad ! Too bad for them, I 
mean, an’ ’most too good for us. Ma’s going 
to give you the front spare room. She says 
it’s none too nice, though she has got her best 
shams and things in it. I hope it’ll be this 
week, ’cause the Sunday-school picnic is next 
and I’d like to take you to it. I’ll take 
Luelly an’ Tommy, too, just as lief. Tommy’s 
smart. I don’t know another little tacker in 
the town as nice as he is. But Luelly, she’s 


Surprising Statements 271 

too airisli to suit me. What you standing up 
for? Why don’t you set down an’ take off 
your hat? Ma, I do believe you didn’t ask 
her ? ” remarked the youth, suddenly become 
so voluble that Gail could hardly believe he 
was really Adelbert Sampsom. 

“Well, son, maybe I didn’t. She come so 
in the nick o’ time, just as I was plannin’ it 
all out, that I forgot my manners. Well, 
Gaily here has got real nice manners an’ she’ll 
teach ’em to us. I ” 

The visitor had to obey Adelbert’s sugges- 
tion and sit down. She felt herself unable to 
stand and passed her hand across her e}^es, 
the better to clear her sight. Then she asked 
with decision : 

“ Will you good people please tell me what 
in the world you are talking about ? I do 
not understand, in the least.” 

Mrs. Sampson likewise sank into a chair 
and almost gasped. Then she looked at her 
son and exclaimed : 

“ Well, there, I don’t suppose you do ! 
We’ve talked it over an’ figured it over so 
much an’ so long — ever since it come out 
’twas true, what folks had all along surmised, 


272 The Heroine of Roseland 

how ’t you an' Jerry wasn’t the Dominie’s own 
children ” 

“ Do people know that?” asked Gail 
eagerly. 

“ Sure. Certain. You twins an’ them 
others wasn’t never no more alike than chalk 
an’ cheese. That’s why I cal’late there won’t 
be no objections raised. None to speak of. 
You’ll have a good home. One the comfort- 
ablest in Millville, even if ’tis joining the 
shop ; plenty to eat, good clothes to wear, and 
a brother to take t’other one’s place.” 

Poor Gail almost screamed. That lank, 
limp boy across the room to even imagine 
himself where her idolized twin had been ! It 
was intolerable that such an idea could have 
entered anybody’s head, even one so silly as 
his. But she began to understand. These 
people were offering her a kindness. Of that 
she was now certain but in what form she was 
not so clear. Moreover, the very thought of 
Jerry, which Adelbert had roused, enabled 
her to speak with calmness, now, and even 
with exceeding gentleness as, laying her hand 
on the red, podgy one of her hostess, she re- 
marked : 


Surprising Statements 273 

“ I do not understand quite what you would 
have me do. Is it to pay you a visit? ” 

“ A visit ? No, indeed. To come and live. 
Forever and always. We want to adopt a 
girl, me an’ him do, an’ we’ve settled on you. 
I’ve always liked you, though I never said 
much about it. Didn’t see you none too often, 
neither. But I’ve took notice. You’re the 
one that’s always give up. Luelly, she’s as 
pretty as peaches but she’s selfish an’ sting} 7 . 
Anyway, she’d be out the question, ’cause her 
folks is alive. You’re an orphan, they say, 
so there wouldn’t be nobody to interfere, nor 
no other pa an’ ma to compare us with. 
We’re plain as a pipe-stem, he an’ me are, but 
we’ve got plenty to do with an’ it’s my am- 
bition to be somebody ’fore I die. I cal’late 
you could teach me a lot and I wouldn’t be 
ashamed to learn of you, ’cause I like you. 
You could make a gentleman of Delly, too. 
So you’d feel as if you was payin’ your way, 
into the bargain. I should want you to 
show Delly, if you could, ’bout the account 
keepin’, an’ try to make him some use. 
He’s a good boy. I don’t see how there 
could be a better — but I — I don’t like to 


274 The Heroine of Roseland 

have folks call him ‘Sissy.’ It mads his pa, 
dreadful.” 

Mrs. Sampson ceased speaking and fixed 
her eyes on the face of her son. If ever true 
affection spoke in any glance it did then in 
hers ; and mingled with the love was a regret 
for her own former unwisdom in “ spoiling ” 
her one child. 

A month earlier, Gail would have felt the 
humor, the almost absurdity of the situation, 
and have felt nothing else. To-day, under- 
lying the humor was a pathos which touched 
her heart and made her wish to serve these 
kind, unlettered folk who had so generously 
desired to serve her. Of all the town, to think 
it was the woman whom she had once declared 
she “ hated ” that sought to take a mother’s 
place toward her ! There was a little catch in 
her voice and a mist in her brown eyes as she 
said, earnestly : 

“ Dear Mrs. Sampson, what you suggest is 
impossible, but it is not impossible that we 
should be the best of friends. Nobody else, 
nobody — has offered me such kindness. I 
don’t deserve it, but I will try to prove you 
are not altogether mistaken in me. I’m not 


Surprising Statements 275 

half as good as you fancy. Indeed, I’m not 
good at all ; the only thing about me that 
might be worth while is that I do love people, 
and I do want to make them happy. Now, 
you’ve been frank with me about your affairs 
and wishes and I’d like to talk mine over 
with you. My Jerry liked you, Adelbert ; he 
said so on one of our last days together, and 
for his sake I’d like to have you help me plan 
a way out of some of our troubles. The me- 
nagerie, to begin with ; because we must 
leave Roseland so soon. Tommy suggests an 
auction, and I don’t know but that would 
be the best way to place the animals in new 
homes. Yet I don’t believe it would be pleas- 
ant for my parents to have a lot of people 
come to Roseland, especially just now. Do 
you know anybody who wants any bird or 
beast, such as ours? Going, going, gone ! ” 
Adelbert had flushed with pleasure at what 
Jerry had said about him and all the chivalry 
of his nature was roused to befriend this now 
brotherless girl, who was trying to face her 
sorrows so bravely. Nor was Mrs. Sampson 
behind him in his desire to help. She had 
by no means relinquished her plan of adopt- 


276 The Heroine of Roseland 

ing Gail, just because of one emphatic “ im- 
possible.” Indeed, the prompt, yet apprecia- 
tive rejection of it had but increased her de- 
sires in the matter, but she was wise enough 
to say no more at present, and to realize that 
the subject should be brought to older judg- 
ments than “ a mere slip of a girl's,” before it 
was settled. She now looked up from the pat- 
tern of the florid carpet she had been studying 
and exclaimed : 

“ I've got the notion ! Gaily, you write out 
some two three papers, big pieces like fools- 
cap, and state that there will be a sale of 
trained pets, on 'count of removal — same’s 
other auction notices I’ve seen ; then if the 
Dominie’ll say ‘ yes,’ we’ll put ’em in the shop 
window. The papers, not the animals, I 
mean ; though that cage of white mice Delly 
told of wouldn’t be a bad idee to set right 
under the advertisement. Then, if all’s 
suited, Delly could drive the butcher cart 
down to your circus an’ fetch ’em all to once, 
an’ we could have the ‘ vandoo ’ right here, on 
that vacant lot behind the shop. Delly could 
put up his Fourth-of-July tent for some the 
folks to set under ; ’cause if ’twas known 


Surprising Statements 277 

’round that ’twas the good Dominie’s things 
was auctioned there’d a power of people 
come. That ought to fetch a consid’able sum 
for your folks ; an’, besides, some of them 
would likely step into the shop an’ buy a few 
chops, or a slice o’ ham, or somethin’. So you 
needn’t feel at all obligated to us,” she con- 
cluded, forestalling any protests on Gail’s part. 

However, there were no protests forthcom- 
ing ; and with Adelbert as escort the girl at 
once hastened home to find out her parents’ 
will in the matter. This time, it must be ob- 
served, she neither ran away from her com- 
panion nor flouted him, as on a former occa- 
sion. He seemed no longer silly, or desirous 
for a “ pin-feather flirtation ” such as had then 
disgusted her healthy mind, but just a real 
friend, as interested in her success as she 
would have been in his. Indeed, she was re- 
solving, then and there, to “ help ” him ; to 
show him how a lad could be manly without 
aping grown-up people, and to point out to 
him at least one way in which he could please 
his parents more. Thought she : 

“ If I go back there to keep books, I’ll make 
him learn to keep them, too. Then when he 


278 The Heroine of Roseland 

has learned I'll Well, I reckon some 

other thing will happen by which I can help 
my home — wherever it may be — as he will be 
helping his.” 

Fortunately, the schoolmaster had returned 
from his house hunting, though with no better 
results than heretofore. Maybe he was the 
more willing, therefore, to listen to the scheme 
Gail and Adelbert propounded, and to consent 
to it. An auction seemed to his conservative 
mind but little short of disgrace ; but it would 
be a greater disgrace to permit helpless ani- 
mals to become starving vagrants. As for 
Tommy, he was at the acme of delight. Was 
it not his brilliant brain which had originated 
this plan ? And wasn’t he the only young 
member of his family who had attended such 
a function ? Huh ! What that enthusiastic 
lad didn’t know about “ vandoos,” as such 
sales were locally termed, wasn’t worth men- 
tioning. 

Also, the affair took place just three days 
later ; nor is it necessary to tell of all the 
heart-broken scenes which preceded it. Even 
Luella found herself in tears, as one after an- 
other of the bewildered animals was placed in 


Surprising Statements 279 

the roomy cart ; and, with Balaam at its tail, 
all were driven off of the grounds and up the 
steep street out of sight. She retreated to her 
mother’s half-dismantled room and, to make 
herself forget these painful partings, became 
extremely busy in deciphering a difficult, 
printed formula for a crocheted jacket. 

Indeed, none of the Grahams were present 
at their auction, except master Tom, whose 
self-importance on the occasion caused many 
a smile. However, not smiles, nor even open 
laughter, bothered him at all. Adelbert was 
clerk of the affair and Tommy was his shadow 
during the brief hour. As predicted, many 
came ; some through real interest in their be- 
loved Dominie, others to recover their former 
pets which had sojurned for a time at Rose- 
land, and still others because of the novelty of 
such a “ vandoo.’ , In any case, the auction 
proved a wonderful success, from a money 
point of view, although Mrs. Mosher stoutly 
protested against paying cash for her asth- 
matic canary, despite the fact that it was now 
a trained canary, as well. Strangely enough, 
most of the bidders were “ John Doe ” and 
“Richard Roe”; names unfamiliar to the 


280 The Heroine of Roseland 


Millvillians, and represented by an agent — 
none other than Uncle Hiram P. Smith. 

To Hiram P. Smith, acting thus for the un- 
known Doe and Hoe, were knocked down 
Juniper Tar and I Don’t, the half-insane 
Polly-cracker, and “ One thoroughbred Cali- 
fornian burro, named Balaam.” Mr. Barlow 
bought Jimmy’s rabbits ; the cotton-duck-supe 
secured for his lame child the gray squirrels 
and the cunning white mice ; while Mr. 
Sampson himself purchased the “ ten trained 
cats and kittens, more or less,” intending to 
keep them in his market, both as an attrac- 
tion to customers and a protection against 
rats. 

Terms were strictly cash and the friendly 
baker, acting in his official capacity as auc- 
tioneer, allowed nothing to be sold till it had 
received a fairly high bid. The total result 
was astonishing to even older people than 
little Tom, who felt that the Arabian Nights 
had been outdone in marvels, and whose 
small pockets soon became so stuffed with 
dimes, nickels, and dollars, that Mrs. Sampson 
feared he would lose some of them. So she 
brought out her roomy “ reticule ” and into 



SHE WAS PACKING THE STATUETTES 



















t 








































































Surprising Statements 281 


this were promptly, neatly packed the ever- 
increasing proceeds till the last article on the 
list — the venerable mud turtle — went the 
way of his predecessors and became the prop- 
erty of Richard Roe. 

“ Now, Tom, it's over, and let’s hurry to 
your house and give the money to Gail,” said 
Adelbert, proudly surveying the note-book in 
which he had made his entries. He had put 
his whole mind to the matter, striving to ac- 
complish it as neatly as he fancied Jerry 
might have done and hoping that Gail would 
recognize this fact and favorably compare him 
with his model. 

They found her on her knees in the old 
greenhouse, sadly packing between layers of 
cotton all of her twin’s now doubly precious 
handiwork, and her eyes so blinded by tears 
that she could scarcely see. 

“ O Gail, Gail, Gail ! Look-a-here ! Just 
you look-a-here ! Hold your skirt out — make 
a good lap of it whilst I empty all this money 
in! See? See that? an’ that? an’ this? 
Ain’t that a lot? Balaam he fetched twice 
what father paid for him an’ Juniper Tar he 
brung twenty — dol-l-a-r-s ! ” 


282 The Heroine of Roseland 


The girl ceased crying instantly, but 
brushed her hand across her forehead in that 
familiar manner which betokened confusion. 
So Adelbert showed her his note-book and was 
rewarded for his unusual efforts when she ex- 
claimed : 

“ Oh ! I’m so glad you wrote it all down — 
that will help us all to understand what seems 
almost too good to be true ! How well you 
write ! Tell me you can’t keep books if you 
choose ! Well, if the dear menagerie had to 
go, I’m thankful it was worth so much. This 
will be a wonderful help to father and 
mother.” 

The lad was already flushing with pleasure 
but he cried, in surprise : 

“ Why, ain’t it yours? All your own? I 
thought the circus belonged to you and Jerry.” 

“ Indeed, it was Jerry who first thought of 
it, but nobody in particular owned it. Of 
course, we could never have had it except for 
our parents’ kindness in the matter and now 
that it’s gone, whatever it’s brought belongs 
to them. I’m sure they and all of us are 
vastly indebted to you for your help. We 
never could have carried the auction through 


Surprising Statements 283 

without you. Thank you, and I’ll go myself 
to thank your father and mother.” 

Both the Dominie’s worn face and that of 
his wife brightened greatly when Tom, as Gail 
insisted was his right, carried the money in- 
doors and emptied it upon the table beside 
them. They added their thanks to Gail’s ; 
and Adelbert Sampson had never felt himself 
so much a man, so little a “ Sissy ” as at that 
moment. In his own awkward way he tried 
to express what he thought, but succeeded only 
in convincing his late instructor that “ there 
was a deal of good in the spoiled son of the 
butcher if only it had a chance to develop.” 

For a few moments there was such a cheer- 
ful clatter of tongues that Luella left her 
crocheting to inquire the cause ; and it was 
she who, looking over Gail’s shoulder at the 
pages of the note-book, suddenly propounded 
the inquiry : 

“ Who in the world is John Doe? And 
who is Richard Roe ? Those two men seem to 
have bought all the biggest animals. They’ve 
paid the highest prices, anyway, and all are 
written just the same : ‘ John Doe, per agent 
Hiram P. Smith.’ I never heard of those men 


284 The Heroine of Roseland 

in Millville, and isn’t it funny to have the 
two biggest payers have such queer names and 
so near alike? Do you know them, father? ” 
All looked toward the schoolmaster for his 
answer, and all were dismayed to see the sud- 
den droop of his countenance, as he replied : 

“ There are no such persons and the money 
is not ours.” 


CHAPTER XVIII 


SEPAKATION 

“ Why, father ! What can you mean ? ” 
asked Gail, her own pleasure banished by his 
dismay. “ Here is the money — if people don’t 
exist how can they pay that ? ” 

“ Those are fictitious names, long in use in 
courts of justice. It’s plain that our friend, 
the sawyer, has paid for the animals himself 
— agent for himself! Thomas, run up-street 
and ask Mr. Smith to stop here on his way 
back to the mill ; or if he can’t do that, tell 
him that I will come to him at home, when- 
ever he will be there.” 

The lad departed but he did not “ run.” 
He moved as if his feet were weighted with 
lead, and, having no excuse for lingering, 
Adelbert as slowly followed. But they had 
not far to seek the old man. He was already 
on his own way to Roseland, his ruddy face 
aglow with the success of the auction ; nor did 
it darken at all when Tom blurted out : 

“ What ’d you go fool us all for, that way? 

285 


286 The Heroine of Roseland 


I think— I think it’s orful mean. My father 
he says they ain’t no Mr. Doe, nor Mr. Roe, 
neither one. He says you’ve gone paid your 
own good money an’ you’ve got to have it 
give back. He’s mad as a hatter, my father 
is! An’ I ” 

“ Well, Master Thomas, what do you think ? 
Tell me your thoughts, an’ I’ll give you the 
4 penny ’ you’ve heard tell of. More’n that, 
I’ll make it a dime. Out with ’em ! You 
won’t get another such good offer in a dog’s 
age ! ” 

44 Dogs ! Who’s got our dogs, anyhow ? I 

— I think ” Alas! Poor Tommy’s 

thoughts were so painful that he lost his self- 
control and burst into a paroxysm of tears. 
This surprised himself as much as it did his 
companions and worked its own cure. 44 Why 
— why — whatever made me do that ? ” he ex- 
claimed. 

At which the others laughed and, in a mo- 
ment, he was laughing, too. But he added, 
defiantly : 

44 1 can’t help it, but I ain’t laughin’ ’cause 

I feel like it. I’m doin’ it ’cause — ’cause 

Wull, just because ! ” 


Separation 287 

“ Exactly, son. There couldn’t be a better 
reason give. Now, face about, soldier like, 
an’ keep step. I’ll step short an’ you step 
long, an’ ‘ Sissy ’ here ’ll mark time,” ordered 
the sawyer, taking the little boy’s hand in his 
and nodding to the older one. 

Adelbert was minded to resent Uncle Hiram’s 
manner and to keep on his way homeward. 
But curiosity prevailed — he must return to 
Roseland to hear the outcome of an affair in 
which he had been so prominent. Therefore, 
he contented himself by saying, as he turned 
around : 

“ I ain’t goin’ back ’cause you ordered. 
I’m goin’ to please myself and because there 
wouldn’t have been no auction, only for me 
an’ ma. An’ I give you warnin’, Mr. Hiram 
P. Smith, that that’s the last time you dast to 
call me ‘ Sissy.’ You or anybody else. I’ve 
graduated from that name. It ain’t a-goin’ to 
fit no longer, even if it might have fitted 
once.” 

Instead of being affronted by this speech 
Uncle Hiram was honestly delighted. He 
stopped short on the path and his wrinkled face 
took on even a deeper glow, as he returned : 


288 The Heroine of Roseland 


“ Good enough ! First rate ! Adelbert 
Sampson, good for you ! Them’s the sensi- 
blest words I ever heard you speak. Whose 
opinion helped you to ‘ graduate ’ from your 
former foolishness ? Though I guess the an- 
swer — either Jerry Graham or his lovin’ twin. 
Ary one, I congratulate you on the fact. I’m 
proud to make the acquaintance of Mr. Adel- 
bert Sampson. Let’s shake hands on it.” 

Whereupon the sawyer held out his toil- 
calloused hand and Delly took it ; if rather 
reluctantly, still — he did take it. For as yet 
he had not been so long graduate in the school 
of common sense that he could perceive, upon 
the instant, the grasp of the homely old man 
to be also that of a genuine gentleman. 

Then they hurried home and found their 
curiosity doomed to disappointment, for the 
Dominie immediately invited his old friend 
into the secrecy of the now bared study and 
closed its door. When the pair issued thence 
he was still downcast and troubled, the 
sawyer still gay and jovial ; but it was no- 
ticeable that the latter held a small parcel in 
his hand and that it was at once given to Mrs. 
Graham, with the remark : 


Separation 289 

“ I’ll be obliged to you, ma'am, if you'll 
take charge of this here trifle till such time as 

I specify I want it. Meantime It's all 

right." 

Was it possible he winked at the lady? 
Gail certainly fancied so and, in any case, 
was vastly relieved to see her mother's ex- 
pression brighten and to hear her answer, al- 
most gaily : 

“ Thank you, good friend. Be sure it will 
be judiciously cared for. Can't you stay and 
share a meal with us ? Possibly the last you 
will ever take at Roseland ? And Adelbert, 
too, who has proved so kind to us all." 

The sawyer was on the point of refusal, 
but a glance tow T ard the butcher's son 
made him hesitate. This invitation evidently 
meant a great deal to that socially ambitious 
youth, for, though the Grahams were so poor 
and he so well-to-do, he knew it was a step 
upward in the social scale for him to sit at 
meat at the table of these more cultured peo- 
ple. Also, Uncle Hiram felt that to partake 
of the household store was to lessen it for the 
needy family ; but Mrs. Graham forestalled 
that objection by adding : 


290 


The Heroine of Roseland 


“ Don’t fear to rob us, neighbor. Dear Mrs. 
Barlow has sent us in a batch of her famous 
biscuit ; Mrs. Sampson made us a big meat- 
pie ; and I went strawberrying myself this 
morning, before the others were awake. We 
have a feast spread for us by good friends — let 
our best friend grace it by his presence.” 

Could anybody decline such a gracious bid- 
ding ? Not Uncle Hiram P. Smith, even 
though he knew that he ought to be hasten- 
ing hillward to look after the various pur- 
chases made that day, as agent for the un- 
known Doe and Roe. Nor did he spoil his 
acceptance by reference to the fact ; though 
his hostess was keen enough to recognize that 
he would like to make his visit a brief one, so 
served supper without delay. 

It was a merry feast. Rarely had merrier 
been enjoyed in that tidy living-room which, 
despite its half-furnished state, was scrupu- 
lously clean. The chairs rattled on the now 
bare floor ; only the oldest, commonest of the 
household china served their needs, and not 
always even china. Tommy and Gail drank 
from tin cups and used paper napkins, while 
the little boy also pricked his tongue with a 


Separation 291 

broken tined cooking fork — none other being 
available. Cried Gail : 

“ You see, friends, that mother has abso- 
lutely counted noses ! Five cups and plates 
for seven people ! Result — two of the people 
must give up their noses or eat from baker’s 
wooden dishes. Thomas Jefferson, is it a nose 
or a baker’s plate ? ” 

“ I don’t care if it’s a baker’s dish or 
mother’s, so long as it’s full up ! ” returned 
the happy boy, his blue eyes fairly dancing 
with hungry eagerness. “ An’ say, mother? 
What makes folks send us in such nice vic- 
tuals now when they never did ’fore? ” 

“ My dear, blessings brighten as they take 
their flight, you know. The residents of Mill- 
ville didn’t realize what valuable members of 
the community we Grahams were until they 
found they were to lose us,” quickly answered 
Gail, seeing a telltale flush steal into the 
housewife’s cheek. Oddly enough, the lady 
who had been most prone to bewail their 
“ poverty ” was the swiftest to resent others’ 
perception of the fact. If she had yielded to 
impulse she would have declined the proffered 
gifts, but she was too practical and too well- 


292 


The Heroine of Roseland 


schooled in the art of making a little go a long 
way, to dare refuse. Later, came other kind- 
lier thoughts, when the Dominie asked : 

“But, Mary, just transpose the case. If it 
were Mrs. Barlow or Mrs. Sampson in such 
trouble as ours, wouldn’t you feel it a privilege 
to give them a lift? Of course; nor would it 
enter your head that you were bestowing a 
4 charity.’ It’s a safe rule, you know, to con- 
sider other folks to be as good — or a little 
better — than one’s self. So, let’s be thank- 
ful.” 

44 Oh ! of course, I would be glad to help 
them ; but I find it takes a deal more 
grace to accept favors than to bestow them,” 
she had answered with a little laugh which 
was not wholly mirthful. However, the favors 
were accepted and all Mrs. Graham’s regret 
vanished as she saw how heartily they were 
appreciated by the guests about her table. 

How the tongues flew ! Even Adelbert’s, 
after his first self-consciousness was over and 
he began to feel at ease, as had the old sawyer 
from the beginning. The lad also felt a sort 
of pride that he could manage his napkin 
almost as well as Gail and Luella did theirs — 


Separation 293 

napkins not being a matter of daily occurrence 
at the Sampsons' oil-cloth covered table. 
Such recounting of the auction's incidents, 
such a mirthful hiding of the real sadness 
underlying the sale, such proud recitals of the 
animals' own fine behavior under new and 
trying conditions, made the stay-at-homes 
feel as if they, too, had been actually present 
on the spot. 

When, all too soon, the meal was over, and 
the guests gone, Adelbert to carry home the 
delightful intelligence that he had been in- 
vited to supper with the Grahams and that 
his mother's meat-pie had proved “ the tastiest 
you ever made ” ; and the sawyer remarking 
that if he didn't make haste that over-lively 
mud-turtle, Methuselah, and the one personal 
purchase he acknowledged, “ would ha' dumb 
the hill 'fore me and likely be already sawing 
his shell into planks. Ought to make good 
lumber, if it's a hunderd years' seasoned ! " 
he concluded. 

So they went away and silence fell on Rose- 
land, with its bare rooms and its empty green- 
house ; and by the end of the week its once so 
happy tenants had scattered, one by one. 


294 The Heroine of Roseland 

When a force of workmen arrived to repair 
the old mansion for the new purchaser, the 
family hastily departed, though no cottage, 
nor suite of rooms, had yet been found to 
house them as a family. So they flitted, Mrs. 
Graham and Luella to the Barlow parsonage, 
there to become guests for an indefinite time ; 
and on the basis that Mrs. Graham’s nimble 
fingers should pay for the keep of herself and 
her daughter by accomplishing the pile of 
neglected sewing, that the minister’s too busy 
wife had accumulated. 

Tommy was claimed by Uncle Hiram, and 
rode thither triumphantly on Balaam, that 
sagacious animal being the sawyer’s temporary 
“ boarder ” on terms satisfactory to the in- 
visible Mr. Doe. To the lad the novelty of this 
visit quite banished any regret at home leav- 
ing; the only thing which could have added 
to his pleasure would have been Gail’s presence 
at the mill. But this was not allowed. The 
schoolmaster had taken a small room for him- 
self at the tavern and had been given work to 
do there, in the way of overhauling the ac- 
counts of various tradesmen, putting them 
into better shape, and receiving a fair wage 


Separation 295 

for the labor. That he would not like the 
task nor easily accomplish it, with his dreamy 
nature — so prone to wander from any subject 
in hand to others far remote — Gail fully 
understood. He needed her, as he had always 
needed her clear head and practical mind “ to 
keep him steady.” 

“ My Gail is just as much a dreamer as I 
am, in her way, but it’s a different way. She 
never loses her head. She can always dis- 
associate herself from visions without confus- 
ing them with facts. From her earliest child- 
hood she has been my balance wheel ; and 
while she is intensely sympathetic with all 
my moods she has firmness enough to resist 
them whenever they become too absorbing. I 
— I don’t see how I can possibly do without 
Gail,” the Dominie had said to Mr. Barlow, 
when he found himself really homeless and 
outside the Roseland gates. 

It was Mr. Barlow and the girl, acting to- 
gether, who had secured the apartment at the 
inn and the work which would make its 
dreary loneliness endurable ; and it was she 
who had resolutely declined both Uncle 
Hiram’s and his sister’s invitations to spend 


296 The Heroine of Roseland 

some time either at the mill or at her farm 
while she accepted one much nearer her 
father’s retreat, where she could help him 
with his work. 

It was to Mrs. Sampson’s Gail Graham 
went, after all ! Went not only willingly but 
eagerly. Not, as her proud hostess hoped, as 
an adopted daughter but as a “ paying guest.” 
The paying being by way of a thorough 
course of bookkeeping, which Gail accom- 
plished by faithful study of the best methods, 
then as faithfully imparted to Adelbert, her 
pupil. Added to the bookkeeping was her 
assistance of Mrs. Sampson in household mat- 
ters ; and here, too, was a pupil both anxious 
and quick to learn. 

At first Gail protested : 

“ Indeed, dear Mrs. Sampson, I don’t see 
how I, a 1 mere slip of a girl,’ as you call me, 
can teach you, a grown woman, anything.” 

“ Oh ! but you can. You’ve been born 
different, growed up different, used to dif- 
ferent. Your house, few times I saw it, was 
plain as a pipe-stem, but — but it didn’t look 
like mine, some way. When I’d come home 
I’d feel all cluttered up, like. Seemed wasn’t 


Separation 297 

room for anything ; they was so many things. 
Yet they was all, they are all, nicer’n ’most 
the things your folks had ; yet I’d like mine 
to look that way. Couldn’t you fix ’em so’s 
they would ? As you’d want ’em if you was 
goin’ to stay forever, like we’d be glad. With- 
out no pay, never, and me an’ him proud as 
Punch to call you daughter. Still feelin’ that 
1 impossible ’ way, Gaily ? ” questioned the 
good woman, wistfully. 

Then touched by the sincere affection glow- 
ing in the face before her, moved by its unex- 
pected bestowal and anxious to prove her own 
appreciation of it, the girl leaned forward and 
kissed her hostess’s fat cheek. 

“ Yes, dear Mrs. Sampson, I can’t be any- 
body’s daughter now, save that of those be- 
loved people who have ‘ raised ’ me in the 
manner you admire. I’m like Topsey, * I’ve 
just growed.’ I haven’t taken notice how, 
but I reckon I’ve been nipped and pruned into 
shape by countless bits of advice and correc- 
tions along the way. I’m not going to teach 
you anything, understand that, please. I’m 
not such a prig ; but if you think I could 
make this room look any prettier, any more 


298 The Heroine of Roseland 

like mother’s or Mrs. Barlow’s, I’ll begin on 
that. Shall I?” 

“ Yes, yes, do. An’ I’ll set down an’ 
watch,” answered Mrs. Sampson settling her- 
self in a rocker and beginning to sway back 
and forth. 

Gail opened her lips, shut them with a 
snap, and laughed ; which made the other 
demand : 

“ What was you goin’ to say ? ” 

“ Oh ! I — I dare not ! It’s too horribly 
rude. Besides, dear Uncle Hiram does just 
the same yet he’s a real gentleman, as real as 
if he talked book English.” 

“ Oh ! tell it. You’ve got my cur’osity all 
stirred up now,” urged the other. 

“ Well, don’t be angry, please ! People 
don’t ‘set’ — they ‘sit.’ And some people 
think that rockers belong to bedrooms ; or, at 
least, that folks should never be rocking and 
talking to other folks at the same time. 
There ! I’m ashamed, but — you made me.” 

“ Don’t you fret, honey. I’m not mad. 
An’ I’m goin’ to try to remember every single 
thing }'ou tell me. I’d like to be just the sort 
of woman Delly’d be proud of. He’s got 


Separation 299 

notions, Delly has, real high ones. What you 
doin’ now ? ” 

For the moment Gail scarcely noticed, 
though her hands were busy removing from 
the mantelpiece a gaudily colored lambre- 
quin. Her thoughts were on this mother’s 
words concerning her idolized son, and she 
fancied she had found an opportunity of “ hap- 
piness spreading.” Delly “ had notions,” had 
he? Well, she’d try to give him some other 
“ notions ” and worthier ones. Among them 
that a lad’s highest notion should be to honor 
his mother. Another notion should be that 
his mother’s happiness should be secured be- 
fore his own. She had found him an apter 
pupil than she had expected in the matter of 
bookkeeping, and she hoped for good results 
in this new one of parent-respecting. She 
would tell him — ah ! Jerry was not lost ! 
He could, he did, still help her and point out 
things she would not have discovered for her- 
self. He was, as Aunt Sarah had declared, 
still a part of her life and could never cease 
to be such. Jerry had never in all his own 
short beautiful life shown their mother any- 
thing but the tenderest love and reverence. 


300 The Heroine of Roseland 

Not even when, as had sometimes been the 
case, her overstrained strength or temper had 
brought sharpness upon him. She hated to 
speak of her brother to anybody, most of all 
to such an “ outsider ” as Adelbert, for Jerome 
had become in her mind her very own, sacred, 
absolute possession. To talk of him here 
would be like desecration ; yet — to make 
others happy had been Jerry’s highest ideal of 
life. Well, yes, then ; she would picture to 
Adelbert what Jerry had been at home and 
so, indirectly yet most strongly, lead the ad- 
miring youth to remodel his own conduct. 

“ I say, Gaily, what you doin’ that for ? I 
took that lamberkin off a-yesterday an’ shook 
it thorough. I don’t believe even your per- 
nickity ma could find a speck o’ dust in it, if 
she tried ever so.” 

This question brought the girl out of her 
reverie into reality, and she answered, laugh- 
ing : 

“ Why, I thought we might just try the ef- 
fect of the mantel without its ‘ drape.’ The 
wood is so beautiful and so finely finished, it 
seems a pity to cover it up ; besides, this lam- 
brequin is too heavy for summer. Why not 


Separation 301 

wrap all these woolen and velvet and silk fix- 
ings up and pack them away till next winter? 
And the heavy curtains — don’t you think 
Delly would like it better if there were only 
the nice white shades left and the air could 
come in ? He’s always fussing with them and 
mussing them. They’d be better down, 
mother would think, till the cold weather 
made them more comfortable. They’re 
very handsome. They ought not to be 
spoiled.” 

Gail said all this without hesitation. Hav- 
ing been requested to reconstruct the apart- 
ment she went into the task with enthusiasm. 
The Sampsons’ house was a new one and 
finely finished in natural woods ; but the ill- 
taught mistress of it had imposed upon its 
simple dignity such a mass of what the saw- 
yer called “ truck an’ dicker,” that its beauty 
was ruined ; and now, beginning with this 
room, by the end of two weeks, the whole in- 
terior had been readjusted. 

Even the butcher himself saw and enjoyed 
the improvement, and being something of a 
connoisseur in lumber could point out to their 
visitors how this or that bit of wood was of 


302 The Heroine of Roseland 

such or sucii a variety, and had been selected 
by his trained eye as a perfect specimen of its 
kind. 

It was fully two weeks when all the needed 
changes had been made. Even in the spare 
chamber which Gail occupied there were no 
longer “ shams ” of any sort, and sitting down 
for a little rest beside the open window of this 
room, the girl looked off toward the hill-road 
and sighed for a glimpse of little Tom who 
had disappeared upon it and had been absent 
ever since. 

Through others she had learned that the 
sawyer was extremely busy, and that Tommy 
was his constant companion. There was a deal 
of lumber to be prepared for “ Big House ” 
and carted thither, and Tommy was driver ! 
He drove a team of mules, overgrown cousins 
to Balaam, and was far too busy, himself, to 
make excursions townward. 

“ The dear little scamp ! He acts as if he’d 
forgotten all of us, since he went into busi- 
ness. Mother says he hasn’t been to see her, 
even, but father thinks it’s all right. I’m 
afraid he doesn’t know about all those trips to 
1 Big House,’ or he might object to them, even 


Separation 303 

under Uncle Hiram’s care. All he says is 
that the sawyer can make a better man of 
Tom than he can and that the child is living 
a normal, healthy life, ‘ if it could only last.’ 
Poor father ! he is the most depressed and un- 
happy of us all. Mother and Lu are having 
what is like a delightful visit ; Tommy was 
never so happy ; and I — well, I’m far better off 
than I deserve ; but what is to come next ? 
Adelbert has learned so fast and is really so 
faithful now to his father’s wishes I have no 
excuse for staying. When I speak of working 
in a mill father puts up his hand in that tragic 
way which shuts my lips tight. But — 
heigho ! If that isn’t Master Tom, this in- 
stant, riding headlong — fairly headlong down 
the road on the burro — I am vastly mistaken ! ” 

She ended her soliloquy by springing to her 
feet and rushing out of doors, the earlier to 
meet the little brother who was hastening to 
her. Arrived, he threw himself from the sad- 
dle and into her arms, with no sign of pleas- 
ure at the meeting but with the startling 
cry : 

“ Hurry up an’ get your things ! He’s fell 
down and ’s broke himself all to smash. 


304 The Heroine of Roseland 

Don’t stop a minute — not a minute — ’cause — 
0 my stars ! I’m goin’ for the doctor an’ you 
ride Balaam — but hurry, hurry ! Don’t 
stand an’ stare ! ” 


CHAPTER XIX 


THE UNEXPECTED 

The dear old sawyer “ broken all to smash ” ! 
The idea was sufficient to send the girl flying 
into the house and to Mrs. Sampson with the 
startling information : 

“ Uncle Hiram has been hurt. Tommy has 
come for me and for the doctor. Good-bye.” 

With that she ran out again, sprang upon 
Balaam’s back and sped away toward the old 
sawmill. Never before in all his career had the 
astonished donkey been so goaded and urged, so 
upbraided and cajoled, and if he could have 
spoken would doubtless have protested against 
such unkind treatment. As it was he did his 
utmost to please the girl in the boy’s saddle 
and in due time arrived at the mill ; where, 
indeed, were no signs of any disturbance and 
only the old assistant of its proprietor calmly 
piling lumber in the yard outside the shed. 

Balaam was panting from exertion and Gail 
from excitement, as she leaped down and ran 
to the man, demanding: 

3°5 


306 The Heroine of Roseland 

“Where is he? What has happened to 
him ? ” 

“ H-hey ? ” asked the assistant, astonished 
to find himself seized by the arm and his 
reply half-shaken out of him. 

Then she remembered that the poor fellow 
was extremely deaf and that Uncle Hiram’s 
communications with him were mostly by 
silent signs. When he did attempt verbal 
ones they were fairly yelled, and she now 
shrieked, at the top of her voice : 

“ Where is Uncle Hi ? What has happened 
to him? ” 

“ Uh. Hmm. H-hey? You want to see 
the boss? Well, he’s over to ‘ Big House.’ ” 

“ The accident happened there, then ? ” 
again screeched Gail, but this time waited 
no reply. She knew a crossroad to the man- 
sion and had often made it her roundabout 
course for the delivery of the eggs and poultry 
her mother had used to supply the former 
owners ; making it a chance to pay a call 
upon the sawyer, en route. Latterly, he had 
also used it for the delivery of the lumber and 
it had become quite smooth — for a track which 
ran directly through the forest. 


The Unexpected 307 

Again Balaam protested. He felt that he 
had traveled far enough for one petted don- 
key, so planted his feet firmly on the ground, 
switched his absurd little tail, and uttered an 
angry : “ Ah-umph ! A-A-oumph ! ” 

“ Well, stay here then, you heartless crea- 
ture ! Refuse to go to the aid of that kind 
friend who has taken care of you ever since 
‘ Mr. Doe ’ bought you ? I’ve my opinion of 
you, sir, and I’m glad we no longer own you. 
Unsaddle yourself, at your leisure, for I can’t 
wait.” 

She left him standing on the stony road and 
ran on, thinking that she was bound for now 
forbidden premises, yet sure that under these 
circumstances her father would have been 
glad to have her go. Nor had she gone far 
before she heard behind her the pat-pat-patter 
of small hoofs and knew that the burro fol- 
lowed. Even in the midst of her anxiety she 
smiled, reflecting : 

“That’s just like folks — human ones. Let 
them do as they’ve a mind and — they don’t 
mind ! Well, come on, Sir Balaam ! You 
may be useful at 4 Big House,’ though I can’t 
tarry your slowness now ! ” 


308 The Heroine of Roseland 

It seemed an interminable journey through 
that beautiful forest, rich now in all its sum- 
mer verdure, though its loveliness impressed 
her almost unconsciously. “ The woods ” al- 
ways seemed full of Jerome’s dear presence 
and she felt as if he were hastening with her 
to the relief and comfort of that faithful friend 
who had loved them both so well. Even the 
sawyer’s peril grew less in her mind as, after 
a time, she had to move more slowly because 
of failing breath ; and her conviction strength- 
ened that : 

“ It cannot be that I must part with him, 
too ! He is such a help to me — to every- 
body ! ” 

“ Ah-umph ! ” commented the burro, so 
cheerfully now that Gail smiled. They had 
come into view of the broad fields surround- 
ing “ Big House ” where the beast realized 
was food and drink sufficient for many bur- 
ros, and where rest awaited. She brightened, 
too, at sight of the familiar place, then felt 
her heart sink afresh, dreading the other 
sight upon which she so soon must look. 
“ Broke all to smash ! ” That might mean — 
anything ! Tommy was not always conserva- 


The Unexpected 309 

tive in his recitals. He was apt to embellish 
them by flights of a very vivid imagination 
and maybe Uncle Hiram 

What? Was this possible? There, upon 
the back porch which fronted this meadow, 
was the old sawyer himself ! He was stand- 
ing — so it couldn’t be his legs that were 
broken. Waving his shirt-sleeved arms — so 
it couldn’t be they. Nodding his gray head 
in vigorous approval — so that must still be 
sound. Halting one instant to assure herself 
of these facts, the next she sped over the dis- 
tance between them and, grasping the old 
man’s extended hands, cried : 

“ Oh ! I am so thankful to see you all right ! 
But what could Tommy mean ? He was so 
excited ” 

“ No wonder ! He was with Mr. Graham 
when it happened. He behaved splendidly — 
and the old man realizes it. If he’d been 
grown up ” 

It was her turn to interrupt. “ Does 
Tommy come here? Often? Is it great- 
uncle Joram that’s hurt? Oh! what will 
father say ? ” 

“ Well, if he’s the decent man I take him 


310 The Heroine of Roseland 

to be, he’ll put his prejudices in his pocket 
an’ be thankful ’t a little son of hisn was 
right on hand, in the nick o’ time, and had 
sense enough to be useful.” 

“ Tell me all, quick,” gasped the girl, sit- 
ting down on the step the better to recover 
herself. 

“ Mr. Graham he likes to have his nose in 
all’s goin’ on. Right enough, too, when it’s 
his money pays the cost. He took a notion 
one the stable floors wasn’t sound an’ as he’s 
goin’ in for blooded horses he was havin’ it 
laid over. The carpenters are takin’ their 
half-day off, bein’ Saturday, an’ he reckoned 
’twas a good time to inspect their job, see how 
they was servin’ him. Well, even Tommy 
didn’t get the first rights of it, but somehow 
the poor feller stepped on what looked to be a 
part of the floor an’ next he knew he’d fell 
into a fifteen-foot cellar an’ broke his legs. 
Them servin’ men he brought with him, that’s 
kept his bachelor’s hall so many years, they’re 
tendin’ him till the doctor comes. ’Twas our 
Tom give the warnin’ an’ he was cool enough 
then, whatever he was afterward. Comes 
round the corner the house, lookin’ pretty 


The Unexpected 311 

white but calm as molasses in January, an’ 
says he : ‘ Uncle Hi, my big-uncle Joram has 

fell down his own cellar an' I guess you men 
better come get him out. He’s awful still 
down there an’ — you better come ! ’ Huh ! 
’D you ever hear the beat ? Not a whimper 
from the little tacker, nothin’ but plain pres- 
ence of mind. 

“ I reckon we went — the men an’ me — an’ 
by that time Mr. Graham had got over his 
shock an’ was hollerin’ fit to wake the dead, 
so we knew he was alive all right. We went 
round the back way an’ fetched him up the 
cellar steps — him still a-screechin’ so it set my 
head a-whirl an’ got him on his own bed. 
The men undressed him, some way, an’ I left 
an’ come out where I could get a breath of 
peace an’ watch for Tommy. Because that 
smart little chap had said right off, whilst we 
was handling poor Mr. Graham : * He ought 

to have a doctor. I’ll go after him on 
Balaam ! ’ Now, wasn’t that clever of him, 
even before anybody’s told him ? I’m proud 
of Tommy, I am.” 

“ So, indeed, am I. The dear little fellow ! 
But I — what good can I do? When he came 


o.i2 The Heroine of Roseland 

J 

I supposed, of course, it was you who were 
hurt, and I couldn’t get to you half fast enough. 
Now — what will father say ! It’s ridiculous 
for me to correct you, dear Uncle Hiram, but 
are you sure you’ve done right in letting 
Tommy come to ‘ Big House ’ at all ? ” 

“ Humph ! Could no more keep that boy 
away from here than you could a fly out of 
syrup ! ’Twasn’t none of my doings in the 
beginning. The oldest Graham an’ the littlest 
one just took to one another from the word 
1 go.’ They’re as chummy as pease in a pod. 
An’ I’m glad of it. I’m most amazin’ glad 
of it.” 

It was so quiet out there on the back porch, 
so little sign of the trouble within the house 
behind, that Gail sat down on the steps, the 
better to consider this vexed question of right 
or wrong. Uncle Hiram sat down beside her 
and fixed his kindly eyes on her perplexed 
face, with a humorous smile hovering about 
his grizzled lips. Finally, he asked : 

“ How goes on that ‘ happiness spreadin’ ’ 
of which you an’ sister Sarah was so full ? ” 

“ Oh ! I don’t know. None too well, I fear ; 
though I have tried to do a little of it. It was 


The Unexpected 313 

Jerry who could make folks happy without 
even trying.” 

“ Not a bit of it ! He had to try always an’ 
constant. All his life sufferin’ with that weak 
heart of his, don’t you believe he was so sunny 
and kind without ‘ tryin’.’ Why, that dear 
laddie’s whole existence was proof of what 
‘ tryin’ ’ can accomplish. So you, with your 
good health an’ willin’ mind — don’t you give 
up, not a minute. Shall I tell you what I 
think ? ” 

“ 0 Uncle Hiram, please do. I’d like to go 
in and tell great-uncle Joram how sorry I am, 
yet I hate to displease my father. There is 
some terrible quarrel between them and I 
don’t know what it is. If I did I might judge 
better.” 

“ Well, little girl, I’m goin’ to say some- 
thin’ may hurt your loyal love to the Dom- 
inie, but it’s got to be said. He’s one them 
gentle, soft-spoke creatur’s ’t always gets his 
own way, while them that go blusterin’ 
round, opposin’ him always get beat. Not 
him, in particular, but — his kind. Like but- 
tin’ your head into a feather-bed. Soft as 
satin — but there ! An’ ’ll smother you in a 


3>4 


The Heroine of Roseland 


jiffy if you don’t give up an’ take your head 
away. Now, it takes two to quarrel, but to 
end a quarrel one ’ll answer. If the one is 
give a fair chance ! I’ve seen a consid’able 
of Joram Graham these past weeks an’ I like 
him. He’s been a crusty old creatur’, long’s 
he was young. Now lie’s old an’ he’s — he’s 
mellowin’ ; like them puppy-nose apples we 
have to keep all winter to make ’em tasty an’ 
good eatin’. It’s my opinion, an’ I give it for 
what ’tis worth, that he’s ready to give up his 
side the quarrel, whatever ’tis, an’ make up 
friends again. ’Course, bein’ a sort of harsh- 
spoke man all his days he can’t change now. 
Our mistakes is often our safest leadin’. You 
come flyin’ up here, thinkin’ ’twas my tough 
old carcass had got broke, but find ’twas hisn ; 
and I tell you, Abigail Graham, I believe this 
day’s happenings have all been ordered by 
that dear Lord of Peace who abhors a quar- 
rel. I believe that for you to go in an’ say a 
word o’ cheer to that poor broken old man in 
the room up-stairs, whilst he’s waitin’ for the 
doctor, ’d please your Heavenly Father, how- 
ever him ’at stands in place of an earthly one 
might chance to look at it. An’ — you’ll have 


3»5 


The Unexpected 

to speak it quick, too, if at all ! there comes 
the doctor’s rig up the road an’ bless me ! 
Tommy’s drivin’ ! ” 

Gail sprang up, her hesitation gone. She 
remembered all at once that the Dominie’s 
anger against his uncle had been on account of 
wrong done to somebody else, not to himself. 
This seemed to make disobedience to his 
wishes less than if it had been a personal in- 
jury. Besides, “ blood is thicker than water,” 
and great-uncle Joram had liked and admired 
Jerry. A thought of what her beloved 
brother would have done now decided her, 
and with a light, swift step she entered the 
house and, a moment later, the room to which 
instinct seemed to guide her — as well as the 
groans that issued thence. 

The master of “ Big House ” lay under a 
light blanket with his eyes closed and his face 
contorted by pain. The ruddy color had gone 
from his fat cheeks and his hands w r ere 
clenched in an effort to suppress the signs of 
his agony. At momentary intervals he ap- 
peared to lose and recover his consciousness, 
and during one of these he asked im- 
patiently : 


316 The Heroine of Roseland 

“ Will that doctor never come ? ” 

“ He is almost here, Uncle Joram. I saw 
him on the way,” answered Gail, standing at 
the bedside and laying her hand lightly on 
his brow. 

Then he opened his eyes with a snap and 
demanded : 

“ You here ? Why ? Who sent you ? ” 

“ Nobody sent me. Can I do anything for 
you ? ” 

“ No, you can’t. Only clear out. Send 
Tommy — the doctor ” 

The girl resented the tone and thought that 
her opposition to the schoolmaster’s wishes was 
working its own punishment ; and though she 
said nothing she was greatly relieved to hear 
the doctor’s voice in the hall outside and 
swiftly retreated from the room. But the 
physician met her on the threshold and joy- 
fully exclaimed : 

“ Why, Gail, my girl ! You here? That’s 
fine — that’s fine. That’s exactly as it should 
be. Wait in the room below till I come 
down.” 

This was the Grahams’ family doctor and 
family friend; and though the girl her- 


The Unexpected 317 

self had rarely needed his professional 
services he had seen much of her during his 
attendance at Roseland and she was his prime 
favorite. 

Then came Tommy, to be somewhat up- 
braided for his scare of her concerning Uncle 
Hiram and to set her reproofs aside with the 
lightness he bestowed upon all such things. 

“ Wull Wull! If he isn’t Uncle 

Hiram he’s a really, truly one. I like him 
first-rate. Me an’ him goes fishin’, an’ shootin’ 
— he’s goin’ to give me a gun myself if — if 
father ’ll let him. An’ I think it’s worse to 
have truly uncles, even whenny ones ” 

“ Tom, that is a wen, without an h. For a 
boy smart enough to go for the doctor and 
drive mules Hmm.” 

Tom changed the subject. “ My father he’ll 
be mad at you for cornin’. My mother, she 
won’t. I asked her an’ she let me. She said 
not to tell father. She didn’t like to go against 
him, she didn’t like it a bit, but she liked 
‘ olive branches,’ an’ when folks held ’em out 
to her she felt just like takin’ ’em. I heard 
her say all that to Jimmy Barlow’s aunt ; and 
Jimmy Barlow’s aunt she said , 1 More ’specerly 


318 The Heroine of Roseland 

when ’twas rich relations held ’em out.’ And 
they, my mother and Jimmy Barlow’s aunt, 
they talked a lot more, and my mother hopes 
my father won’t be angry with her but ’ll come 
to see that she acted for the best an’ ’t he was 
himself mistook. What’s it all about, anyway, 
Gaily? If big-uncle Joram is our big-uncle, 
why don’t we act w 7 ith him just’s if he was 
Uncle Hiram P. Smith ? It bothers me. 
It bothers me orful. To Sunday-school I 
learned ‘ Love your enermies,’ an’ my father 
he says big-uncle Joram is a nenermy. Then 
why shouldn’t I love him? That’s what I’d 
like to know. I asked Uncle Hi and he said : 
‘ Give it up ! Too deep a question for me ! ’ 

That’s what he said. So I Well, I just 

minded my mother. An’ Gaily, I like it here. 
I like it first-rate. It ain’t quite so nice as 
the sawmill, but it’s nice — it’s dreadful nice, 
an’ I’d just as lief stay here all the time. Just 
as lief as not.” 

“Why, Tommy boy! Stay here always? 
Surely not after father finds us a new home 
and we can be all together again. You didn’t 
think of that, did you ? ” cried the girl, giving 
the lad a kiss. 


The Unexpected 319 

He snuggled to her side and looked up into 
her face with his wheedling smile, saying : 

“ Gail, I’ll bet you a cent I could get big- 
uncle Joram to let us come live in some his 
empty rooms. I told him once, I did, ’t they 
was terr’ble empty, an’ he said, ‘ Huh ! So they 
are, lad, so they are. They’d ought to be filled 
with Grahams ! ’ an’ he didn’t mean bread 
neither, though that’s the only kind he eats. 
Peter-baker brings it every day. I ” 

“ Thomas Jefferson Graham, how do you 
know what sort of bread Mr. Joram Graham 
eats ? Have you been here to meals ? ” 

“ Wull — wull What can a feller do 

when he gets hungry if he does be in the 
wrong house. I might get hungry — terr’ble 
hungry right in this very one, I may. An’ 
if — if the hungry catches me on the spot an’ 
there’s victuals ’round, an’ they sort of walk 
theirselves into my mouth, a feller can’t help 
myself, can he ? ” 

“ Tommy boy, one thing is certain amidst 
many uncertain ones : for a schoolmaster’s son 
you use the very poorest grammar possible. 
To school you’ll go, somewhere, whether to 
your father’s or not ; and the more wrong 


3 20 


The Heroine of Roseland 


things you do the worse is your language. 
I’ve noticed that, sir.” 

Gail smiled, but Tommy paid no heed to 
smiles. The problems vexing him were be- 
yond smiles to settle. For the first time in 
his life he had found a division in the com- 
mands of his mother and father, and which- 
ever one he obeyed he had a sense of wrong- 
doing toward the other. Suddenly, he cried : 

“ Sister, what can a feller do ? I want to be 
a good boy. I do want to be good like Jerry, 
an’ all the time I keep doin’ things ’t are 
naughty to somebody. I wish — I wish things 
didn’t happen like they do ! ” 

Gail sighed. How heartily she wished so, 
too. How perplexing was this “ life ” which 
she had once accepted so carelessly. Fortu- 
nately, it was but a short time afterward that 
she heard the doctor coming down the stairs, 
and silence succeeded the footsteps which had 
echoed through the rooms overhead. There 
was no wavering nor uncertainty in the good 
physician’s manner, and there was rest in the 
firmness of his voice, as he said : 

“ Both of Mr. Graham’s legs are broken, and 
one break is serious enough to a man of his 


The Unexpected 321 

age and habit. I shall send two trained nurses 
here at once, a man and a woman. His con- 
finement will be long and tedious. He wishes 
both of you children to help him bear it, and 
you, Gail, to remain in this house. The 
woman who is coming to nurse will be com- 
pany for you and make it right for you to 
stay. Till she gets here, I want you to take 
charge of his food. You’ve learned good cook- 
ery from your excellent mother — now is your 
chance to prove it. Fix him a nice cup of 
milk-gruel, right away. The man-cook who 
belongs here can manage for a healthy person 
— I judge he’s had no experience in catering 
to the sick. Good-bye.” 

He was already at the door when Gail caught 
his coat skirts to detain him. She had lis- 
tened to his remarks in a confused way, mean- 
ing to set him right as soon as he had finished, 
and he had almost gone before she realized it. 
Now, in dismay, she cried : 

“ But, doctor! I can’t ! My father would- 
n’t permit ” 

“ Nonsense, nonsense ! That’s all right. 
I’ll see him and explain. It will be all right, 
be sure of that. Tommy, you’d better sleep 


3 22 


The Heroine of Roseland 


at the mill, just as you have been doing, but 
come over at odd times during the day, to 
superintend the work going on and report in- 
juries to me — also, just as you have been 
doing ! Obliged to you for help in my busi- 
ness ! But make it your home at Uncle 
Hiram’s, for a very little of you goes a long 
way in a house! Especially in a house of 
long illness as this is bound to be. Good-bye, 
good-bye. I’ll be up again at dusk, with the 
nurses, if they don’t arrive before then. 
Good-bye ! ” 

With a laugh at their astonishment, the 
busy man went off upon his rounds and left 
them staring at one another with incred- 
ulity. 

Surely it was the unexpected which had 
happened. Another home had opened to re- 
ceive the “happiness spreader,” the once re- 
jected home of “ Big House ” ; and instantly 
her duties therein began ; for hastily entered 
Wilson, Mr. Graham’s own man, with the 
message : 

“ Mister Graham desires the young lad}' 
would step up-stairs.” 

Also, the message was personally delivered. 


The Unexpected 323 

for in a tone lusty with pain and impatience, 
came the shout from above : 

“ Abigail Graham ! Come up here right 
away ! I want you ! ” 


CHAPTER XX 


THE TWO JEROMES 

The old man turned his head wearily upon 
his pillow, and looked down along the stiff 
outlines of his plaster-cased limbs. Life, under 
these conditions, had become almost intoler- 
able. He would have found it wholly so save 
for the presence of the girl who now stepped 
to the bedside and asked, in a voice modulated 
to the requirements of a sick room : 

“ What can I do for you, Uncle Joram? ” 

“ Sit down in that chair and talk to me. 
Let me talk to you, if I want to, and just as I 
want. Has that nurse gone, yet? That 
woman one ? ” 

“ Yes. It is her recreation hour, you may 
remember.” 

“ Oh ! I remembered, but she never appears 
to. Always has to linger and talk a little 
longer. I hate a gabbler. If you were one 
I’d wring your neck ! ” 

3 2 4 


The Two Jeromes 325: 

Gail answered by a merry laugh and the 
words : 

“ I think not, Uncle Joram ; for the simple 
reason that I shouldn’t put my neck within 
reach.” 

He laughed, too, a trifle gruffly, then or- 
dered : 

“ Fetch that chair and sit down. It gives 
me the fidgets to see anybody always on the 
move. The room is horribly neat, already ; 
you couldn’t find a speck of dust even with a 
microscope. Sit down.” 

Obediently, she brought a chair and placed 
herself upon it, delaying only long enough 
to put away the duster she had been 
using. 

“ Now, you poor dear, I’m ready to listen, if 
you’re ready to talk,” she said, folding her 
hands serenely in her lap, in a fashion he 
commended. 

“ Well, there’s another good thing about 
you, Abigail. That is — you can be absolutely 
still sometimes. You’re about the only female 
I ever saw who could be, except my mother. 
They had sense enough to give you her name 
and maybe that’s the reason why you are like 


326 The Heroine of Roseland 

her, in so many ways. Ever seen her por- 
trait ? ” 

“ No, Uncle Joram, how could I ? I didn’t 
know you had one. May I see it ? ” 

“ Sure. I want to compare notes. How 
long you been here? But you needn’t an- 
swer. I know. I know to a minute that it’s 
just fourteen days and seven hours since I fell 
into that confounded cellar and laid myself 
on the shelf. Heigho ! And I was just be- 
ginning to enjoy things, getting back to 
country life. I was born on a farm, you 
know.” 

“Yes, I know. Father told me.” 

“ Your Uncle Philibert, you mean. How 
much did he tell you, Abigail Graham ? ” 

“ About what ? I — I’d rather call him 
* father,’ please. He is the only father I’ve 
ever known, Uncle Joram,” she returned, 
gently. 

“ But not the real one. Not the father I 
want to talk to you about. You’re a big girl, 
and a sensible one. Did Philibert tell you 
why we quarreled?” 

“ No, indeed. The most he said was that 
you had wronged somebody who was dear to 


The Two Jeromes 327 

him and that, until that wrong was righted, 
there could be no friendly intercourse be- 
tween you ; even between yourself and us, his 
family.” 

“ But you’re here. There’s been consider- 
able 1 intrycourse,’ as Tommy calls it, between 
you and me during the past fortnight. A 
pretty trying ‘ intrycourse ’ for you, I guess.” 

“ Yes, I’m here. I don’t know yet whether 
I am doing right in staying, even though no 
objection has come to me from father, ” she 
answered ; and after that there were many 
minutes of silence in the great room. It was 
broken, at last, by the old man’s direct- 
ing : 

“ Go to that little movable desk on that ta- 
ble yonder and open it. Here’s the key. 
Fetch me a purple velvet case you’ll see lying 
inside. Don’t drop it. It’s worth a fortune. 
A fortune to me, anyway.” 

She took the key he unfastened from a 
bunch of others, which he kept always lying 
near him, and brought the velvet case. It 
was quite large and heavy and, as she was 
about to place it in his hands, he further di- 
rected ; 


328 The Heroine of Roseland 

“ Sit down first — so I can see your face. 
Then open it.” 

She obeyed, her curiosity now greatly 
aroused ; and, as the covers flew apart, ex- 
claimed, in amazement : 

“ Oh ! how beautiful ! How exquisite 
this is ! ” 

“ That is a miniature of your great-great- 
grandmother, carved on sardonyx. Before he 
was quite eighteen your own father copied it 
from an old oil portrait. It was the last piece 
of work he did before — before he left me. It 
was, also, his best ; because then he loved me, 
and hoped to prove by it that he was right 
and I was wrong. Your boy father at eight- 
een ! His name was Jerome.” 

The old man’s voice was full of emotion, 
and Gail’s eyes suddenly suffused with tears. 
The two Jeromes ! The two lads, so like in 
gifts and ambitions, father and son — both 
gone ! Then she looked toward the bed and 
asked : 

“ Have you a picture of him, too ?” 

“ No, Abigail, but you need none. No two 
human beings ever more closely resembled 
one another than your father and your 



“OH, HOW BEAUTIFUL!” SHE EXCLAIMED 



The Two Jeromes 329 

brother, save that one was physically strong, 

the other weak. Did Philibert ever tell 

How much do you know of the past, my 
child ? ” 

Could it be possible that this man, now so 
gentle, was the same irate invalid who had 
made life a burden to all about him during 
the fortnight just gone? She looked at him 
as if he were a stranger and almost he would 
have appeared so to himself. He was pale and 
had grown thin, he was neatly shaven, and 
his objectionable wen was hidden by a tidy 
silk skull-cap. In place of the fretful energy 
that was his habit had come a calm accept- 
ance of the suffering which had befallen, 
though it must be admitted this patience was 
not always noticeable. However, just now, he 
seemed to have forgotten himself in memories 
of his earlier years ; and, after a few more mo- 
ments of silence, he said : 

“I’m going to tell you the whole story, 
from my side. Whether it agrees with Phili- 
bert’s side I don’t know, though I believe him 
truthful. The story will probably hurt you 
some, but not as it has hurt me all these years. 
Oh ! if the mystery could be cleared up ! If 


33 ° 


The Heroine of Roseland 


I could know why — why — he did it ! Give 
me the miniature. My mother was the only 
woman I ever loved and who ever understood 
my two-sided nature. I shall feel as if I were 
talking to her, with that case in my hands.” 

Gail felt as if she were about to participate 
in some solemn ceremony, as she placed the 
portrait of that dead and gone old gentle- 
woman in her old son’s hands and, drawing her 
chair still closer to the bed, quietly sat down. 
Nor during all the startling tale that followed 
did she once disturb the speaker by a move- 
ment. He began: 

“ This accident has proved to me that life 
is uncertain. I hope to live many years and 
enjoy the wealth I have accumulated, but — I 
may die to-morrow. Long ago, my only 
brother died. He left to my care his three 
sons. The eldest, George, grew up so much 
like myself that I — almost hated him. It 
isn’t pleasant, nor flattering, to see one’s faults, 
or even virtues, reproduced in another individ- 
ual, and that individual perpetually under 
one’s nose. You don’t know your Uncle 
George. He is exactly your great-uncle 
Joram, done over again on a slightly smaller 


The Two Jeromes 331 

scale. Philibert you do know. We needn’t 
discuss him. Jerome was the middle one of 
the three lads, and the only one I really loved. 
Even he didn’t know, from any declaration of 
mine, that I did so, though he must have 
guessed it, because he was the only one who 
had no fear of me. From the beginning he 
took it for granted that he could have his will 
of me and he generally could. A sweeter- 
natured boy was never born. He was the 
sunshine of my bare bachelor home and the 
very idol of his brother Philibert. I intended 
him for my heir. I meant he should take 
over all my business, retaining my name as 
the firm and making it notable in all the 
country. He had brains and enterprise 
enough for this and I felt no fear of his oppos- 
ing my plans till, on one misguided day, I 
took him to a sculptor’s studio ; for I, too, in 
an untrained way, have a passion for 
sculpture. 

“ That was the beginning of the end. He 
was never the same boy afterward. He im- 
mediately began to model and carve, out of 
any material at hand, and at first I was 
supremely proud of his ability — his genius. 


332 The Heroine of Roseland 

It proved to be nothing less than that. I even 
went so far as to send him to the studio for 
instruction ; and after that he flatly refused to 
carry out any of my long prepared plans. He 
would never go into business. He didn’t care 
at all for money. His life was his own ; God 
had given him a talent, and he should use it. 
He was sorry, oh ! yes ! he was sorry to disap- 
point me, but if he did so in one way might 
he not make me equally proud in another ? 
Let him try, anyway ! Would to God I 
had ! ” 

Again Uncle Joram was silent, and for so 
long that Gail finalty asked : “ What next ? ” 

“ Next was a bitter, bitter quarrel. We 
were both Grahams and all the race have 
nasty tempers. Tempers which run away 
with judgment, affection, even common sense. 
If I’d retained an atom of the latter I’d have 
given Jerry his head and let him succeed or 
fail, as might be. Instead, I ordered him out 
of the house, out of my sight, out of my life. 
And he obeyed orders ! Ah ! yes. He was 
most conscientiously obedient ; he went at 
once. 

“ Now comes the part will hurt. I had an 


333 


The Two Jeromes 

appointment that night and I was obliged to 
keep it. Just as I was going out a man to 
whom I had lent ten thousand dollars came 
to pay me. Not in money but in precious 
gems of which he was a collector, and in the 
procuring of which he had spent his fortune. 
There were but a few of them, yet so valuable 
that they made up the full debt. They were 
in a tiny chamois bag, and in my agitation 
over the quarrel with Jerome, I hastily signed 
a receipt for them and laid the bag on the 
table in the room where Jerome still stood, 
himself profoundly agitated and unnerved by 
this break with me. 

“ Then I hurried away and — the gems were 
missing when I returned. Jerome took them. 
He had no money of his own, and the small 
allowance I made him was always mortgaged 
before it was due, he was so generous to other 
people. That night he sailed for Europe and 
it was seven years before any of us looked 
upon his face again. I never did.” 

Gail gasped. This story was more terrible 
than she had dreamed ; and though she suf- 
fered its pain, she saw that the old man 
on the bed suffered more keenly still. The 


334 The Heroine of Roseland 

reason was — he believed it and she did not. 
Instantly, a natural love for a father, so like 
her own Jerome, convinced her that some- 
where was a dreadful mistake. Her own 

father a She could not even think the 

shameful word, and hurriedly asked : 

“ Did you make any search for the gems ? 
How could you believe such a horrible thing 
of a boy you had yourself brought up ? ” 

“ Oh ! I searched enough. Far and near. 
Had the best detectives in the city take up 
the case. Nobody, nothing was left untried. 
The jewels had disappeared ; so had the hand- 
some, erring lad who took them.” 

“ But my uncles — did they, too, believe their 
brother a criminal ? ” 

“ George did. Didn't I tell you he was my- 
self right over again ? Oh ! he was glad 
enough to believe, for I was a rich man and 
this was one heir out of the way. Philibert 
didn't, never has, never will. That is our 
quarrel. He turned on me like the ingrate 
he is and while he was careful to use only re- 
spectful language he gave me to understand 
that I was about as vile and low-down a speci- 
men of manhood as ever existed. He vowed 


The Two Jeromes 335 

then and there that he would never again be 
my friend, never accept another favor at my 
hands, and — more to that effect. He vowed 
that as soon as he was able he would pay back 
the full value of the gems and — any amount 
of such talk. Pay ? That fellow ? He has 
no more ability to make money than Jerome 
had, but he’s kept his word in the other re- 
spect. He keeps on religiously hating me and 
despising me, and it isn’t pleasant ; especially 
as I know I am right, hateful as that right is, 
and am perfectly willing to aid Jerome’s chil- 
dren — or you, his child.” 

It was a wretched state of things, yet some- 
how the girl listener was not dismayed. She 
had faith to believe that this wrong would be 
set right — some time, some way, at present un- 
foreseen ; and her heart thrilled with love for 
her adopted father because of the loyalty to 
her unknown one which had cost him so 
dearly. As a relief to the tension which held 
them both, she got up and gave her uncle his 
medicine ; then asked : 

“Will you tell me the rest? About my 
father’s coming back after — after the seven 
years ? ” 


336 The Heroine of Roseland 

“There's little to tell. He had married, 
been widowed, lost his health, his expensive 
line of work had not been popular, and he 
had only money enough to bring him and his 
twin babies back to America. From the hos- 
pital where the ship's people immediately sent 
him on his arrival here, he sent word to us, 
but I would not go to see him. Of course, 
since I wouldn’t George wouldn’t. Philibert 
went, stayed with him till he died, buried 
him, and adopted his children, although he 
was himself unmarried at the time, only en- 
gaged to the woman he loved. He never 
married her, by the way. She wasn't brave 
enough to take him in his poverty and bur- 
dened with the charge of two little babies. So 
he married Mary who was brave enough and 
who has made him a good wife. Lest you 
should hear of your own father’s shame he 
allowed all to think that you and your 
brother were his own children, and it has 
been left to me to tell you the truth. I feel 
that somebody should let you know it, even 
bitter as it is. Philibert won't, and George 
would be glad to. With all due respect to 
George, I believe it has come to you from me 


The Two Jeromes 337 

less painfully than it would have done from 
him. 

“We had never disclosed the name of the 
suspected party, even to the detectives who 
worked on the case, and they never knew 
that your father had been present in the room 
with the gems. They were allowed to believe 
that he had left home, was already on the 
steamer, before the stones were brought to me. 
It wasn’t so easy to deceive them but, for 
pride’s sake and the family honor, it was 
done. 

“ After the funeral, George offered to clothe 
you children as long as Philibert would board 
and educate you, but upon the condition that 
there should be no acquaintance between his 
family and you. Careful soul ! He hasn’t a 
child can hold a candle to either you or our 
lost Jerry ! And he’s been just a trifle too 
exact in his copying of me, as he’ll find out 
to his cost, some day ! ” 

The old gentleman’s manner was now so 
natural and crusty that Gail laughed, and ex- 
claimed : 

“ That, then, explains the Aunt George 
boxes ! ” 


338 The Heroine of Roseland 


“ Abigail Graham, you laughing ? Actually 
laughing after this disreputable story I have 
told you — you, the daughter of a th ” 

Instantly her hand had flown to his lips 
and she had ceased to laugh, even to smile. 

“ Don’t say that ! Don’t say anything you’ll 
be sorry for, dear old uncle ! And if I laugh 
it is because I am sure — sure — sure that my 
father never touched those jewels. How could 
he? Since you had brought him up, you 
whom I have heard father-Philibert say 
* had never cheated a human being out of a 
cent.’ ” 

“Did he say that? Angry Philibert?” 
demanded Mr. Graham, with a pleased light 
in his eyes. 

“ Of course he did. By the way, have you 
any more of my own father’s work ? ” 

“ Yes. I kept all he had done. It’s there 
in that desk, just as he packed it, when it was 
finished. In cotton wool and paper to pro- * 
tect it. I just turned the key upon it and 
have never opened it since — till now.” 

“ Oh ! then let’s go all through it. I am 
so eager to see it. If my own Jerry could be 
here this minute ! I can see the shine in his 


339 


The Two Jeromes 

beautiful eyes as it would have been — my dar- 
ling Jerry ! ” she returned, her voice trembling. 

The old man laid his hand on hers and said 
very kindly : 

“ Yes, dear, bring it. I have grown to love 
you, because of him I lost. We will go over 
it all, together, and I can explain every single 
piece. I was more proud than he when each 
was finished, for, artist like, he was never sat- 
isfied with his own accomplishments.” 

Evidently, though he believed her father’s 
guilt, he had not ceased to love him ; and Gail 
made haste to bring the little desk and place 
it on the small table beside the bed. Then 
she began to take out each bit of the delicate 
carved work, unwrapping and tenderly exam- 
ining, her delight increasing all the time, and 
their owner describing the circumstances un- 
der which all were produced. 

Finally, at the very bottom of the desk, lay 
a time-yellowed, legal envelope, addressed in 
an unknown hand to : 

“ Mr. Joram Graham, 123 North Willett 
Street, City. The parcel left on the table in 
the library the night of my leaving home. ,, 
Signed, “ Jerome Graham.” 


34° The Heroine of Roseland 

“ Why, uncle, what is this? There's some- 
thing lumpy in it, a sealed letter to you, hid- 
den away down underneath the paper that 
lines the desk." 

She lifted the letter, held its superscription 
so that he could read it, saw his face go ghastly 
white, and heard him stammer : 

“ O — open it — quick — quick ! ” 

She did so hurriedly, seeing his agitation, 
and took from within a little chamois bag. 
Then she heard him gasp : “ The gems ! the — 
gems ! ” and saw that he had fainted. 


CHAPTER XXI 


CONCLUSION 

As the nurse so timely entered by one door, 
Gail fairly flew out of the other, leaving the 
desk and its contents exposed to the gaze of 
any who might see. The precious desk which 
had at last revealed the secret of so many 
years, had vindicated the honor of her father, 
and made everything all right. 

“ Oh ! If Jerry were only here to share the 
blessed news ! But then he never knew, he 
did not suffer because of it. But father, dar- 
ling father-Philibert — how can I get to him 
fast enough ! ” 

Out of the house as out of the room sped 
the excited girl ; down the hill by any road, 
cross-lots or otherwise, and into the inn cham- 
ber where sat a weary-hearted man, toiling at 
uncongenial tasks. Who found himself almost 
choked in the ecstatic embrace that seized him 
from behind, while his new fountain pen — pro- 
cured at such reckless expenditure for the 
34i 


34 2 


The Heroine of Roseland 


more clerkly bookkeeping — was tossed out of 
his hand while the inkstand would have fol- 
lowed the pen, had his assailant been less care- 
fully trained. 

Unclasping her arms, he looked into her 
radiant, yet tear-stained face, and cried : 

“ Why, Gail, my daughter ! what has hap- 
pened ? ” 

“ Think, you precious man ! Think of the 
very loveliest thing in all the world that 
could have happened and then know it’s 
true ! ” 

“ Alas ! dear heart. I can, nowadays, more 
readily think of unlovely ones,” he returned, 
drawing her around to his side and placing 
his arm about her waist, “ but if good has 
come to you I am glad, indeed.” 

“ To me — to you — to everybody ! Father, 
the lost gems are found ! I know all ; Uncle 
Joram has just told me, and, best of all, the 
little bag has just been found that clears my 
own father of disgrace and proves to every one 
how noble, how true was your faith in him. 
Oh ! how can I ever repay to you all you have 
sacrificed for Jerry and me ! How for your 
loyalty to my dead father whom, although 


Conclusion 


343 


unknown, I do love ? But come, come, come ! 
We mustn’t waste another minute’s time be- 
fore this dreadful misunderstanding of so many 
years is set right. Poor, helpless Uncle Joram ! 
The good news was almost too much for him, 
and you must come to him — he cannot come 
to you. I want to see your hands clasp — I 
want — O come ! ” 

They did not tarry even to share the good 
news with the mother, a message should be 
left for her to also “ come,” but in the old 
familiar fashion, her arm resting lightly on 
his shoulder, all her old faith in him expressed 
and justified, they sped together up the hill, 
into “ Big House,” and into the presence of the 
lonely old man who welcomed them in a 
silence more expressive than words. 

But at last sobbed Uncle Joram : 

“ How can I ever forgive myself for the in- 
justice I have done? I who prided myself 
upon my perfect justice to all men ! Oh ! my 
poor lad, my well-beloved, wickedly wronged 
Jerome ! A thousand times richer you, Phil- 
ibert, with your clear conscience and your 
poverty, than I with all my wealth and this 
regret ! ” 


344 


The Heroine of Roseland 


Then — but why prolong a story that is told ? 
That was the beginning of many happy days 
for all in Millville ; not only those who bore 
the name of Graham, but for all their friends 
and well-wishers. “Big House” was no 
longer empty ; and the happiest one of all 
who filled its roomy chambers was the Domi- 
nie’s Gail. Not because of rumor which set- 
tled it that she should be its master’s heir ; 
for money, in itself, troubled her not at all. 

Only glad and thankful for the heritage of 
peace between all her race ; for the comfort 
which came to Mary Graham, presiding at 
last over a mansion which satisfied her high- 
est social ambition, and whence she could be- 
stow upon others some of the blessings now 
fallen to her lot ; for the leisure that had come 
to the scholarly gentleman who had lived so 
obscurely yet so nobly, and could now delve 
in any book he loved without having added 
to it that objectionable tail of “ keeping.” 

Not least of the girl’s satisfaction was the 
fact that now he no longer needed it, the 
charge of the school was immediately ten- 
dered him, and he was “ unanimously called by 
the School Board to resume his old position, 


Conclusion 


345 


with a doubled salary, the untrained sopho- 
more having proved unequal to the posi- 
tion.” 

For one doubtful moment the Dominie’s de- 
cision hung in the balance ; but his beloved 
Gail promptly turned it, by the reminder : 

“ Why, father mine ! Give up the first 
chance of your life to devote yourself to liter- 
ature ? Isn’t the charge of Uncle Joram’s cor- 
respondence drudgery enough to satisfy your 
abnormal conscience ? Isn’t the salary at- 
tached as big as that of the school ? Haven’t 
you still to fit me for college, while dear lit- 
tle Luella can go off to the boarding-school 
which will suit her better, and have pretty 
clothes galore ? And Thomas Jefferson — is he 
to be trusted in a stable full of spirited horses, 
without somebody in authority to prevent his 
breaking his neck ? And as for that dear old, 
cranky, adorable Uncle Joram, who feels he 
can never do enough for any Graham to com- 
pensate the injustice once done one, is he to 
be disappointed in his old age of the nephew- 
son he 1 raised ’ ? Indeed, no. Back to no 
school you go ; but into the cosiest of studies, 
or the dreamiest of woods, and the troutiest of 


346 The Heroine of Roseland 

streams, to be just happy, happy, happy, as 
you well deserve.” 

In those days there was no gainsaying the 
radiant Gail. She must have everybody do 
just w T hat he or she liked best, in his or her 
own way, and like the Jerome of old, she had 
but to intimate a desire to her doting old 
great-uncle to have it gratified. It was, there- 
fore, quite in the natural order of things that 
one day he and she gave a dinner party. To 
it were bidden a mixed but delighted and 
grateful company. Witness : the shining 
faces of Mr. and Mrs. Sampson, her friends in 
time of need ; the open-hearted Mr. and Mrs. 
Barlow, with Jimmy, the latter somewhat 
hampered in his behavior by the supervision 
of his aunt ; Adelbert, in a new suit that was 
not of the largest plaid, and a necktie that 
was not glaring, and comporting himself in 
rather a patronizing manner, as an old friend 
of the young hostess. 

Came, also, Aunt Sarah from the farm, and 
beloved Uncle Hiram P. Smith, in his Sunday 
blacks and his most jovial Sunday mood. 
Oh ! there were many there, even the cotton- 
duck-supe and his family, as well as the new 


Conclusion 


347 


owner of Roseland ; and doubtless, few if any 
of these willing guests had ever partaken of a 
feast so grand as that. 

For in one part, Uncle Joram would have 
his own way, and Gail joyfully acceded it : 
the table should be furnished by a caterer from 
the city, with the choicest viands obtainable, 
so that for pnce the housewifely Mrs. Graham 
should be free from care, and sit at her own 
board, the served and not the server. 

When all was over, Uncle Joram, now able 
to support himself on crutches, rose and pro- 
posed : 

“ A toast ! To the Dominie’s Gail ! The 
widest 1 Happiness Spreader ’ I ever knew. 
Let us drink it to her in this sparkling water 
from the old spring in the wood ! ” 

They all followed his suggestion and stood, 
glasses in hand ; and when all had quaffed the 
pure liquid, responded Uncle Hiram : 

“ To ‘ John Doe ’ and ‘ Richard Roe,’ master 
of ‘ Big House,’ purchaser of out-of-business 
menageries, and general benefactor of Mill- 
ville township ! May his shadow never grow 
less, long may he wave, et cetery, so on, and 
so forth ! Hip, hip, hur-ray ! ” 


348 The Heroine of Roseland 

Loyally they echoed the sentiments thus 
expressed ; even from behind Tommy’s chair 
coming unrebuked the appreciative bark of 
Juniper Tar and the joyful yelp of little I 
Don’t. 


THE END 


720 * 















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